There are potentially enormous exploitable energy resources available in the world’s oceans. This would suggest significant potential markets for the sale of ocean energy as well as opportunities for supporting industries and services involved in the development, manufacturing, construction, installation and operation. However, uncertainty in future costs makes it difficult to estimate the scale of the opportunity and the size of the long term potential market.
The technically exploitable energy of wave energy devices is estimated to be 5,500 TWh/yr, which is approximately 30% of world electricity demand. Whilst currently under development, the Ocean Energy Forum goal is to install 100GW of wave and tidal by 2050. This equates to 350 TWh of exploitable electricity and opens up a global market for investment, jobs and growth. This would meet 10% of the power demands of the EU, a significant component in the transition to a low carbon clean economy.