World’s first wave and tidal energy leasing round to power up to three quarters of a million homes

16 March 2010The Crown Estate has announced the names of the successful bidders for the world’s first commercial wave and tidal leasing round, for ten sites in Scotland’s Pentland Firth and Orkney waters. The 1.2 GW of installed capacity proposed by the wave and tidal energy developers for 2020, 600 MW each from wave and tidal, is four times the peak output of Dounreay power station. This is enough electricity to meet the needs of up to three quarters of a million homes.The developers have signed agreements for lease with The Crown Estate to take forward the development of their wave and tidal energy installations. This will allow developers to enter the statutory consenting process for their sites with security of access to the seabed.As owners of the UK seabed out to the 12 nautical mile territorial limit and over 55 percent of the foreshore, we have been working closely with our partners, Scottish Government, Highlands & Islands Enterprise, Orkney Islands Council and the Highland Council, to maximise the benefits to the local area and the rest of Scotland from investments such as the offshore renewable energy programme.