Developers are invited to make expressions of interest about investment in their projects to The Crown Estate.
The Crown Estate owns and manages more than half the foreshore and almost the entire seabed around the UK. It said that it was looking for two wave and/or tidal stream projects to support, alongside other companies and in parallel with grant support from government. The investment will be in the construction of the projects, with each project involving multiple generation devices arranged in an array and with a total installed capacity of 3MW or greater. To be eligible for investment, the projects must already have a Crown Estate agreement for lease, have or soon obtain statutory consents and grid connection agreements and realistically be expected to reach final decisions for capital investment by March 2014.
Rob Hastings, director of the energy and infrastructure portfolio, said: "Several wave and tidal stream technologies are now proven and it is timely for the industry to move on to demonstration projects. First arrays are important because they are on the critical path to larger schemes around the UK and worldwide. By bringing our capital and expertise to bear, we hope to catalyse investments by others and to see projects proceed to construction and operation as soon as possible."
A guidance document, which includes full eligibility criteria, is available to download here:
The deadline for responses is Friday 15 February 2013.
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