Technical and Non-Technical Issues towards the Commercialisation of Wave Energy Converters

Wave energy (WE) has the potential to eventually cover more than half of the world’s electricity demand. The WE sector is still nascent; some technologies are approaching commercialization but others are in their infancy. Likewise, public opinion about WE is emerging. Public perception has been identified as a non-critical barrier of WE development provided public opinion is properly handled from the early stages of the sector. The public is now having its first acquaintance with WE, thus, the sooner there is an effective approach, the more opportunities will there be for the sector. Research shows there are different techniques of addressing the public. This paper discusses different approaches as to whom, when and how developers should address by focusing on the experience of several renewable energy projects and the achieved results. The experience proves that early information dissemination to all interested parties via two-way communication methods contributes to achieving public acceptability most effectively.

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