Marine energy could be Europe’s industrial trump card

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes · Last updated: 2 September 2026

Valentin Dupont, policy director at Ocean Energy Europe, argues that marine energy — wave and tidal technologies — could deliver both new industrial growth and greater energy security for Europe. He points to a global technical potential of 3,911 TWh a year and a European pipeline that includes 16 publicly supported pre-commercial farms and roughly 200 turbines as the basis for industrial scaling. Dupont says dedicated market mechanisms, notably Contracts for Difference (CfDs) for tidal in the UK and similar schemes in France, are the practical tools that can convert Europe’s early technology lead into a manufacturing industry and bankable domestic supply.

Europe has deployed more capacity than all other countries in the world combined and it is the place with the largest pipeline of projects under development.

Valentin Dupont, policy director at Ocean Energy Europe

Why Europe holds a lead now

Europe gained an early technological lead in marine energy through public grant funding for the first wave and tidal stream prototypes, according to Valentin Dupont of Ocean Energy Europe. That early investment created skilled design teams, pilot projects and manufacturing know-how concentrated in European firms.

Dupont argues this lead translates into a tangible advantage: more deployed capacity and the largest pipeline of projects under development worldwide. He points to public funding mechanisms and national support as the origins of that advantage rather than a single company or patent, and he frames the current moment as the phase where demonstration projects can become the seed of an industrial supply chain.

This concentrated capability matters because the scale-up step — turning prototype machines into series-manufactured turbines and components — is where countries capture manufacturing value. Dupont compares the opportunity to the offshore wind story two decades ago, when early deployment and market support produced both cost declines and industrial jobs.

From prototypes to pre-commercial farms

The sector is entering the start of industrialisation in Europe, driven by 16 publicly supported pre-commercial farms due over the next four years and an expected output of about 200 turbines across them. Those numbers, cited by Ocean Energy Europe, mark the first cohort that can deliver repeatable manufacturing runs and operational learning.

Dupont highlights the UK and France as practical examples. The UK has used Contracts for Difference to create market visibility and, he says, has developed 10 pre-commercial farms in four years. In France, feed-in tariffs sped the two-farm projects FloWatt and Normandie Hydrolienne, and the government has included tidal commercial calls with a commitment to auction 250 MW by 2030.

Because pre-commercial projects have not yet reached economies of scale, they currently need a top-up over wholesale prices. Dupont frames that top-up as temporary: each deployment lowers costs, improves bankability and attracts private capital to the next round.

System benefits: predictability, complementarity and security

Marine energy’s system value rests on predictability and complementarity with wind and solar. Tidal and wave patterns follow physical cycles that are often independent of wind and daylight, so Dupont says they can produce power at different times and help balance supply and demand on grids dominated by wind and solar.

That predictability reduces the amount of balancing capacity and fast-response fossil generation needed, which Dupont frames as an energy-security benefit: more domestic, fuel-free generation narrows exposure to volatile fuel markets and helps stabilise prices. He describes this as a double layer of security — resource control plus local manufacturing.

Ocean energy is therefore not only a new source of clean electricity but also a tool to integrate higher shares of variable renewables, displace residual thermal generation and retain more economic value in Europe through domestic jobs and supply chains.

Policy and market steps needed to scale

Dupont identifies market visibility as the principal barrier to industrial rollout. Large projects require large investments, and private investors and manufacturers need long-term, predictable returns to commit capital and scale factories and installation fleets.

He endorses CfDs as the most efficient mechanism to provide that certainty; CfDs guarantee a fixed price per MWh and signal government support, making projects bankable. The UK tidal CfD programme and France’s feed-in approach serve as examples where targeted support unlocked pre-commercial deployment.

Beyond revenue support, Dupont calls for wave-specific market mechanisms in Portugal, Spain and Ireland, where resource potential and project pipelines exist. He stresses that the challenge is not fundamental technology feasibility but the transition from demonstrators to industrial-scale markets.

How this could play out

The bottom line

Valentin Dupont frames marine energy as a practical industrial and system opportunity for Europe: a technical resource with 3,911 TWh potential, a visible pipeline of 16 supported farms and early policy examples in the UK and France. The missing piece is durable market visibility — CfDs or similar mechanisms — to shift projects from pre-commercial learning to serial production. If policymakers maintain targeted support through the coming deployment rounds, Europe can convert its prototype advantage into local manufacturing, stronger domestic security and a new export industry; without that policy continuity, scaling will be slower and Europe’s lead could narrow.

What to watch

• Watch for delivery and commissioning milestones across the 16 publicly supported pre-commercial farms; the piece gives no precise deployment dates.
• Watch for France’s auctioning of 250 MW of tidal capacity, which the government has committed to by 2030.
• Watch whether Portugal, Spain and Ireland introduce wave-specific Contracts for Difference; no dates were provided for such mechanisms.