Environment Minister Jane Davidson has welcomed news that the UK Government will be carrying out a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the development of wave and tidal devices in England and Wales.

Speaking about the DECC announcement the Minister said;

    “This is great news for Wales.  The Welsh Assembly Government has big marine energy aspirations, anticipating many gigawatts from wave and tidal stream by 2025.  

    “Today’s announcement marks a significant step forward, moving us closer towards harnessing the vast potential energy from our seas and securing a renewable and low carbon energy supply for Wales and the UK.”

The UK is the world leader in the development of marine renewable energy technologies due to the high level of resource, its highly skilled expertise and the world-class testing facilities that are available.

However, until now the lack of an SEA has been a significant barrier to capturing the potential energy generation of Welsh seas.  The decision to move forward with this SEA will now help to open up Welsh waters for commercial development.

The SEA is intended to promote sustainable development and provide high level environmental protection into the preparation of any plans for wave and tidal power.

The marine energy SEA will build on data already gathered under existing SEAs and studies including the Marine Renewable Energy Strategic Framework for Wales.  

The Environment Minister added:

    “The Welsh Assembly Government has funded an extensive environmental data capture exercise to ensure that benchmark targets for energy generation are met in a sustainable manner.

    “This Welsh specific data will add significant value to the SEA and assist in the early stages of the SEA process”.