An Overview of the U.K. Marine Energy Sector

This paper gives a historical overview of the development of the U.K. marine energy sector from its academic beginnings in the early 1970s. It includes discussion on government support policies and where the sector might develop up to and beyond the end of this decade. The paper also presents two very different projects: the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, U.K., and the forthcoming All Waters Current and Wave Test Facility in Edinburgh, U.K., as examples of capital investment in the sector.