Webinar: New Horizons - Europe Driving Ocean Energy Development Worldwide

The joint side-event between Ocean Energy Europe (OEE) and IRENA took place on 19 June 2020 as part of the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW). Since the early days, Europe has been a pioneer in the development of ocean energy (OE) technologies. The vast majority of OE capacity is installed in Europe and so is the projected installed capacity for the next few years. But the market is expanding, and countries like Canada, USA and China are developing their technologies and new champions are starting to emerge.

The side-event was opened by Patrick Child, Deputy Director-General of the European Commission Directorate-General Research and Innovation (DG RTD), who highlighted the importance of renewable energy technologies, particularly ocean energy, in the European Covid-19 recovery packages for the energy transition. Mr Child highlighted the official launch of the latest publication from the European Commission’s advisory body ETIP Ocean. The publication on the Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda for Ocean Energy (SRIA) identifies the main research and innovation areas to improve the technology and accelerate the deployment of full-scale devices and pilot farms.

The Deputy-Director of the IRENA Innovation and Technology Centre, Roland Roesch, presented an overview of the state of ocean energy worldwide and highlighted the role of emerging markets. The event was enriched by a panel of industry experts discussing case studies based on current and future projects in Japan, Canada, Taiwan, the Faroe Islands and Indonesia. The panel outline a set of recommendations to policy makers, industry, academia and other stakeholders to accelerate the uptake of OE. Across the panel discussion, Rémi Gruet, CEO of OEE, connected EU policy actions with the current successes and future priorities of the sector as it approaches industrialisation. The event delivered valuable insights into the benefits that the sector can bring to countries, both in terms of clean energy and economic growth.