Our story
Our belief in the potential of tidal stream energy began over a decade ago, in 2012, when the Perpetuus Tidal Energy Centre entered development and secured a seabed ‘Agreement for Lease’ from the Crown Estate.
In 2013 an extensive Environmental Impact Assessment was undertaken to support the onshore and offshore consenting process. As part of this, PTEC created a unique consent envelope which considered multiple tidal turbine and project variations. The key aim was to future-proof the project for changes in technology, to support the engineering design process, and to give consideration to key stakeholders.
Full consent was achieved in 2016. But, as a result of a change in government policy, there was a period of stasis until the project was revived in earnest in 2020. The then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced plans to make the UK a world leader in green energy.
In November 2021 this was cemented, with the announcement of £20 million per year in government support for the tidal stream energy sector through the Contract for Difference (CfD) scheme. The following month, in December, PTEC resecured the onshore consents and extended a key consent for offshore activities. The project also obtained an updated grid connection offer in the same year.
In December 2022, PTEC entered into its 20-year seabed lease from the Crown Estate. This was the last step to enable the project to move into the final stages of development before construction can commence.
The 30MW project
Our plans since inception have centred on the creation of 30MW of energy through our project – to prove the commercial viability of tidal stream energy in the south. When successful, PTEC will go well beyond just the creation of renewable energy. It will bring economic growth to the Isle of Wight, creating an innovative new industry sector for the island.
It will also stimulate a global interest in this renewable energy hub drawing together wind, solar, tidal energy and energy storage manufacturing and, in time, hydrogen generation, to mirror the energy, investment and job creation successes of EMEC in Orkney.
This capability dovetails with the Isle of Wight Council ambitions to achieve the environmental targets it has set in its recently published ‘Mission Zero’ – Climate and Environment Strategy.
The road to future tidal development
Wider industry research is showing the waters around the PTEC site have the potential to offer a much larger capacity than that sought by PTEC to date. This was also validated through a PTEC commissioned feasibility study, carried out by EMEC, for the south of England. Encouragingly, significantly more tidal stream energy could be generated in and around the Isle of Wight and throughout the English Channel.
Now more than ever, in the face of an energy crisis and climate instability, the UK must explore options to improve its energy mix. And we firmly believe that tidal stream energy is a crucial route towards a carbon-neutral future.
