Future of Tidal Energy – opportunities and priorities for the UK
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Author(s)
Type
Report
Abstract
The UK has some of the world’s largest tidal resources.
This work has determined that the UK holds the second
largest tidal range resource in the world after Australia,
and the 6th largest tidal stream resource in the World. The
UK’s tidal range and tidal stream energy resources hold
the potential of supplying 230% and 16% respectively of
the UK’s current electricity demand if projects offering
attractive financial returns can be developed to tap into
this comparative advantage in tidal energy resource.
Financially successful tidal energy projects in the UK
could then pave the way to grow the UK’s tidal energy
sector through exports to countries with good tidal
resources. Such export destinations are identified as;
Brazil, Argentina, Australia, USA, and Indonesia in the
case of tidal stream, and Australia, Argentina and France,
Canada and the US in the case of tidal range.
Despite promise the sector has struggled in developing
attractive financial projects. The levelized cost of
electricity (LCOE) is higher than other renewables such
as wind and solar, and revenue uncertainty (electricity
price) hamper the bankability of such projects. Subsidies
such as Contracts for Difference (CfD) can create price
certainty as long they endure for the lifetime of the
project, which is easier for tidal stream projects of 25-
year duration, but the guarantee of pricing for tidal range
projects having 120-year lifetimes is harder to fulfil.
This study shows that it will be challenging for tidal stream
to reduce its LCOE to below the costs of solar and wind
through the typical learning curves experienced by most
new technologies due to the later arrival of the technology
relative to solar and wind, and the smaller total future
market potential of tidal stream vs wind and solar. This
means that tidal stream must seek other revenue streams
to compensate and this work has shown that tidal stream
can attract a premium of 11-18 £/MWh over solar and wind.
This premium is provided by the unique services that
tidal can offer over solar and wind due to its predictability
which helps in reducing the system integration costs to a
power network.
For tidal range technologies the potential to reduce
levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) exists but this potential
is likely lower than for tidal stream as the technology
employed is mature in nature and builds on classical
hydropower expertise, nevertheless the sector has
identified some cost reduction pathways. Tidal range is
likely to attract a price premium due to its predictability
when integrated into a power system network much like
has been shown for tidal stream, however tidal range can
also offer additional services that can attract revenues
that are not accessible to tidal stream.
A significant element of the work in this study has
focused on environmental impacts of tidal technologies.
An exhaustive review of the literature base has not
only highlighted pathways by which we can build and
operate tidal technologies better to mitigate any negative
environmental and conservation issues, but it has also
highlighted the many co-benefits of tidal range can offer.
Benefits include climate-change induced rising sea-level
flood protection, storm-induced flood protection, reduced
coastal erosion mitigation costs, improved marshland
conservation and ecosystem services provision. The
study maps such potential benefits, overlays them on a
map and shows how these regions are often co-located
with proposed tidal range barrage projects that offer the
needed co-benefits to mitigate these risks. This work
highlights the need to develop creative ways to factor
these benefits into tidal range barrage projects to improve
financial attractiveness and bankability.
This study outlines priority actions for the sector if the UK
is to grow its low cost, tidal energy electricity generation
and exploit this expertise to grow a world leading tidal
energy sector that can export its technology and knowhow
across the globe.
This work has determined that the UK holds the second
largest tidal range resource in the world after Australia,
and the 6th largest tidal stream resource in the World. The
UK’s tidal range and tidal stream energy resources hold
the potential of supplying 230% and 16% respectively of
the UK’s current electricity demand if projects offering
attractive financial returns can be developed to tap into
this comparative advantage in tidal energy resource.
Financially successful tidal energy projects in the UK
could then pave the way to grow the UK’s tidal energy
sector through exports to countries with good tidal
resources. Such export destinations are identified as;
Brazil, Argentina, Australia, USA, and Indonesia in the
case of tidal stream, and Australia, Argentina and France,
Canada and the US in the case of tidal range.
Despite promise the sector has struggled in developing
attractive financial projects. The levelized cost of
electricity (LCOE) is higher than other renewables such
as wind and solar, and revenue uncertainty (electricity
price) hamper the bankability of such projects. Subsidies
such as Contracts for Difference (CfD) can create price
certainty as long they endure for the lifetime of the
project, which is easier for tidal stream projects of 25-
year duration, but the guarantee of pricing for tidal range
projects having 120-year lifetimes is harder to fulfil.
This study shows that it will be challenging for tidal stream
to reduce its LCOE to below the costs of solar and wind
through the typical learning curves experienced by most
new technologies due to the later arrival of the technology
relative to solar and wind, and the smaller total future
market potential of tidal stream vs wind and solar. This
means that tidal stream must seek other revenue streams
to compensate and this work has shown that tidal stream
can attract a premium of 11-18 £/MWh over solar and wind.
This premium is provided by the unique services that
tidal can offer over solar and wind due to its predictability
which helps in reducing the system integration costs to a
power network.
For tidal range technologies the potential to reduce
levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) exists but this potential
is likely lower than for tidal stream as the technology
employed is mature in nature and builds on classical
hydropower expertise, nevertheless the sector has
identified some cost reduction pathways. Tidal range is
likely to attract a price premium due to its predictability
when integrated into a power system network much like
has been shown for tidal stream, however tidal range can
also offer additional services that can attract revenues
that are not accessible to tidal stream.
A significant element of the work in this study has
focused on environmental impacts of tidal technologies.
An exhaustive review of the literature base has not
only highlighted pathways by which we can build and
operate tidal technologies better to mitigate any negative
environmental and conservation issues, but it has also
highlighted the many co-benefits of tidal range can offer.
Benefits include climate-change induced rising sea-level
flood protection, storm-induced flood protection, reduced
coastal erosion mitigation costs, improved marshland
conservation and ecosystem services provision. The
study maps such potential benefits, overlays them on a
map and shows how these regions are often co-located
with proposed tidal range barrage projects that offer the
needed co-benefits to mitigate these risks. This work
highlights the need to develop creative ways to factor
these benefits into tidal range barrage projects to improve
financial attractiveness and bankability.
This study outlines priority actions for the sector if the UK
is to grow its low cost, tidal energy electricity generation
and exploit this expertise to grow a world leading tidal
energy sector that can export its technology and knowhow
across the globe.
Date Issued
2026-10-16
Citation
Future of Tidal Energy – opportunities and priorities for the UK, 2026, pp.1-10
Publisher
Imperial Centre for Sectoral Economic Performance
Start Page
1
End Page
10
Journal / Book Title
Future of Tidal Energy – opportunities and priorities for the UK
Copyright Statement
© 2026 The Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Subjects
CSEP
energy
tidal
tidal power
tidal range
Publication Status
Published