Wales has strengthened its position as the UK’s tidal stream leader, with three of the four successful tidal projects in the latest Contracts for Difference (CfD) renewables auction set to be deployed in Welsh waters.
Four tidal stream projects totalling around 20MW secured contracts as part of Allocation Round 7a (AR7a), with more than 18MW of the new tidal stream capacity contracted in Wales across three projects.
All tidal projects cleared the auction at £265/MWh in 2024 prices — 28.6% below the government’s £371/MWh price cap.
The Pot 2 budget allocated to tidal and other less-established technologies was just under £15m, with projects due to deliver power in 2028–29 and 2029–30.
Successful tidal stream projects in AR7a:
- HydroWing – Ynni’r Lleuad 3 (Wales) – 10MW
- Mor Energy Ltd -Mor Energy GO3 Phase 2 (Wales) – 5.5MW
- Tidal Technologies W1 LTD – Morlais Tidal Tech GR1 (Wales) – 3MW
- Orbital Marine (Scotland) – 2.4MW
The outcome builds on the momentum seen in Allocation Round 6 in 2024, when 28MW of tidal capacity secured contracts, and just weeks after the government delivered the single biggest procurement of offshore wind that Europe has ever seen.
AR7a has also secured a record number of solar projects and the largest onshore wind project to be successful in England in a decade.
Jay Sheppard, Senior Project Manager, Marine Energy Wales
The latest CfD allocation has awarded 20.9 MW of tidal stream capacity across the UK. Of this, 18.5 MW is in Wales, meaning around 89% of the capacity procured is Welsh. That’s a significant result and a strong signal of Wales’ continued leadership in tidal stream deployment.
It’s encouraging to see HydroWing and QED Naval, via Mor Energy, continuing to build scale, with HydroWing now reaching around 30MW of contracted capacity and Morlais-linked projects totalling more than 57MW.
The award also marks an important step for Tidal Technologies, securing CfD support for its first demonstrator device.
While scale remains critical for attracting mainstream finance, several of these projects build on existing pipelines, helping developers move into the size range lenders want to see.
Overall, this is a strong outcome for Wales and for the tidal stream sector, and a solid foundation to turn contracted capacity into operating projects in Welsh waters.
Our role now is to work closely with developers, finance bodies, and government to help ensure these projects are financeable, built, and delivered, so that contracted capacity translates into operating assets in Welsh waters.