Insights by Project Manager, Jay Sheppard.
Environmental data has never been more abundant in the tidal energy sector. From underwater sonar and video monitoring to tagged seals and marine mammal observers, we have a growing wealth of insight into how marine life interacts with tidal technologies. But for all that data, consenting new projects is still widely perceived to be slow, expensive, and uncertain.
Earlier this year, The Crown Estate published a detailed report on collision risk evidence for tidal stream devices. It laid out the state of current knowledge and identified key ways the sector can move forward by standardising methods, sharing data more openly, and focusing on transferability.
Now, in a follow-up publication, they’ve taken a deeper dive into that last point: when and how marine mammal data from one site can be used to inform consenting at another. The report, Evaluating the Transferability of Marine Mammal Data Between Tidal Stream Energy Developments (2025), is timely and welcome.
It presents a structured framework that gives developers, regulators, and advisors a practical way to assess whether existing data, particularly related to collision risk, can be reused. That should, in theory, accelerate environmental assessment, reduce costs, and help get new projects into the water faster.
But here’s the challenge. The framework exists. The potential is clear. Yet we are still waiting for it to be used.
A Useful Tool, But No Pilot in Sight
This new framework is not abstract theory. It is built around practical, well-understood parameters: how similar two sites are in terms of species, population structure, environmental conditions, turbine characteristics, and monitoring methods.
It encourages developers to think critically about comparability, and it allows regulators to exercise informed judgement about when new data is truly needed, and when it is not. It supports more strategic use of resources and a more proportionate approach to risk.
But it has not yet been applied in a live consenting case. No pilot project has stepped forward to walk through the framework and test its value in practice.
And this is where we hit a deeper structural issue.
At the moment, there are no new tidal stream sites in Wales actively progressing through consenting. That is not a coincidence. It reflects the commercial uncertainty still hanging over the sector, and the very real risk that developers face when trying to bring a new project forward. Consenting is part of that risk. A slow or unpredictable process can make otherwise viable sites economically unattractive.
This is why frameworks like this matter. But it is also why they must be tested, not just developed.
Wales Could Lead the Way
Wales is uniquely positioned to take the first step.
Natural Resources Wales (NRW), as the environmental regulator in Wales, has been engaged throughout the development of this framework. To my knowledge, they have been brought along on the journey by The Crown Estate. That matters. Too often, new tools land on regulators’ desks without context, resourcing, or confidence.
Here, we have an opportunity for alignment. Developers, NRW, and other stakeholders could come together to trial the framework on a future Welsh site.
There is no better candidate for data reuse than the Morlais Marine Characterisation Research Programme. The volume and quality of data being collected there is exceptional. If we are serious about data reuse, then this is the place to prove it.
What we need now is a project. A single tidal development that is ready to be consented using this tool, with support from NRW and a shared commitment to transparency and learning.
That would change everything. It would show that data transferability is not just a principle, it is a practice.
Making the Case, Building the Confidence
The Crown Estate and ABPmer have done good work here. They’ve taken a complex and sometimes contentious idea, and turned it into something usable. The framework is pragmatic, transparent, and flexible.
But it won’t drive change on its own.
The real test is whether developers feel confident enough to use it, and whether NRW and other statutory consultees feel supported enough to accept it. That means strong relationships. It means shared understanding. It means asking tough questions and working through the grey areas together.
Above all, it means taking that first step. Testing the framework in a real-world case. Showing the sector what is possible when we stop treating every new site like a blank slate, and start building on what we already know.
The Invitation
So here’s the ask. Let’s not wait for the perfect moment or the perfect site. Let’s take what we have: a framework, a motivated regulator, and world-class data, and use it.
Let’s prove that environmental confidence can be built not just through more evidence, but through better use of the evidence we already have.
Because if we can get that right, we won’t just accelerate one project. We’ll pave the way for many.