Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of tidal turbine technology to produce energy at a cost-effective level.

Tidal stream is a novel technology and so initial costs are high. Cost reductions are required to deliver the potential benefits cost-effectively. In 2023 DESNZ published research on ‘Levelised Costs of Electricity from Tidal Stream Energy’. It suggested there is potential for significant cost reductions, subject to deployment. 94MW of new tidal stream power was procured in Contracts for Difference Allocation Rounds 4 and 5. This will increase the UK’s installed capacity tenfold.