Rémi Gruet, the CEO of Ocean Energy Europe, tells Euronews how the development of better technology and Russia's war in Ukraine have helped innovators convince the masses that ocean power could be the key to energy security in Europe.
Europe is making significant strides in tidal and wave energy generation. What's more, the bloc is leading the charge when it comes to developing such technologies. European companies are responsible for 70 per cent of the world's ocean energy capacity.
The EU's ambitious targets include establishing ocean energy farms capable of producing 100 megawatts by 2027, scaling up to a staggering 40 gigawatts by 2050 — amounting to approximately 10 per cent of Europe's power demands.
To learn more about the growing interest in ocean energy, Euronews spoke with Rémi Gruet, the CEO of Ocean Energy Europe, a non-profit organisation representing more than 120 entities in the sector, including major utilities, industrial powerhouses, and leading research institutes.
"Last year we saw a lot of public support in both tidal and wave energy at a European level thanks to the Innovation Fund and Horizon Europe" said Gruet.
"I think it's because, on the one hand, technology has progressed a lot. So, people are better convinced by the fact that we can use water to generate electricity cost-effectively. And the second point is [Russian President] Putin — we have understood that price stability for gas is gone forever. And you don't have energy security without price stability.
"So this has really triggered a renewed understanding of the need to decarbonise, not just for the climate because that was already there, but also for energy security", he concluded.
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