Scotland around 10 megawatts (MW) of tidal stream electricity generation operational around its coastline, over half of what is globally operational. There is a rich history of deployments including the testing of 35 wave and tidal devices at EMEC in Orkney.

The UK government's latest three Contracts for Difference (CfD) allocation rounds have generated a pipeline of 83MW in Scotland to be built out by 2029. There are hundreds more megawatts in development for future projects, and a potential for 12.6GW of wave and tidal in the UK by 2050.

The sector has enormous potential to benefit the Scottish economy. Tidal stream and wave energy projects in the UK could deliver more than £8 billion in economic benefits to the Scottish economy by 2050, and support more than 15,000 jobs. The global export market for marine energy over the same timeframe could be worth as much as £28 billion to the Scotland’s economy. 

Scotland has a growing pipeline of marine energy projects, including 83MW of tidal stream energy from projects supported by the UK government. In fact, the Scottish supply chain boasts an unrivalled experience in marine energy projects, exporting their knowledge across the globe.

Marine energy projects in Scotland include:

• MeyGenopens in a new window – the world’s first utility-scale tidal array and the largest planned tidal stream project in the world. Operating since 2018, the 3.5 kilometre site covers some of the fastest flowing waters in the UK, just 2 kilometres from Scotland’s north-east tip.
• Nova Innovationopens in a new window - In 2016, Nova installed the world’s first offshore tidal array in Bluemull Sound, Shetland. This game-changing array has delivered many technical, commercial and social breakthroughs as well as economic benefits for Shetland.

There is a culture of innovation here too, with testing and research facilities carrying out exciting work in this sector. If you’ve got the skills there’s opportunities waiting here for you in the next generation of marine energy.

Some of our innovation centres in Scotland include:

• The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC)opens in a new window –  an innovation catalyst pioneering the transition to a low carbon future. EMEC is the world's leading accredited test and inspection body for demonstrating ocean energy technologies in the sea. As of 2025, 35 marine energy converters have been deployed at EMEC's sites in Orkney, Scotland – more than any other single site in the world.
• The FloWave Ocean Energy Research Facilityopens in a new window – carries out extensive hydrodynamic research in the wave, tidal, offshore floating wind, robotics and sensing sectors. Its expert scientific and technical team are involved in the development of international standards, technical specifications and state-of-the-art instrumentation systems.
• The National Decommissioning Centre (NDC)opens in a new window is a global leader in research and development (R&D) supporting the energy transition through technology development. It collaborates with universities, R&D institutions, and innovation centres, and partners with fishing, marine, safety and environment organisations. The centre hosts a suite of state-of-the-art facilities including a marine simulator and modelling capabilities, underwater laser cutting system and a barrier qualification chamber for testing new materials.
• The Kelvin Hydrodynamics Laboratory at the University of Strathclydeopens in a new window is one of the leading providers of testing services to the UK wind, wave and tidal energy industry. Its 76-metre-long tank is used for a wide range of marine hydrodynamic tests.
• FastBladeopens in a new window is the world’s first test facility that uses regenerative hydraulic technology to offer high-quality fatigue testing of tidal blades and other composite structures for research and product development. It has been developed by the University of Edinburgh specifically for cost effective, testing of structures such as tidal turbine blades, composite bridge sections and carbon fibre aircraft wing boxes.