Four tidal stream projects successful in Allocation Round 7a
Written by UK Marine Energy Council on .
The Government has today announced four tidal stream projects were successful in Allocation Round 7a, giving the UK a deployment pipeline of over 140MWs.
This is the fourth auction in a row in which tidal stream projects were successful, creating a strong pipeline of projects to be deployed in the coming years in Wales and Scotland.
The results of AR7a saw 20.9 MW of tidal stream capacity secured across 4 projects, at £265/MWh. The successful projects are:
Mor Energy Ltd GO3 Phase II 5.5MW
Morlais Tidal Tech GR1 Ltd 3.0MW
Orbital Marine Eday Project 2.4MW
Hydrowings Ynni’r Lieuad 10.0MW
This is the smallest amount of capacity procured through the Contracts for Difference process since the introduction of the tidal stream ringfence in 2022. This is in part due to a £5m reduction in the accessible support.
Despite the reduction in support, the 20.9 MW of tidal stream capacity gives the UK an unrivalled global deployment pipeline, supporting the UK Government’s ambition to be a Clean Energy Superpower.
Tidal stream projects are being deployed in the UK with over 80% UK supply chain content spend. A recent report from the University of Edinburgh has shown that the UK could secure over £50bn GVA for its economy and create 80,000 jobs through leading the global in marine energy. The UK has over 11.5GW and 25GW of accessible tidal stream and wave energy capacity.
That potential is why in June 2025 the Energy Minister Michael Shanks MP launched the Marine Energy Taskforce, to set out a series of recommendations and roadmap.
Sue Bartlett-Reed, Chair of the Marine Energy Council and Marine Energy Taskforce, responded to the results:
“I want to congratulate Mor Energy, Tidal Technologies, Orbital Marine and Hydrowing on their success in this year’s renewable auction. Tidal stream is a highly predictable form of energy generation and could play a key role in the UK’s energy system in the future. This marks another important step forward for the sector.
“Wave energy has not yet been successful through the CfD process. The MEC called for a specific ringfence for this technology. I urge DESNZ to revisit this ask ahead of Allocation Round 8 and ensure the budget for Pot 2 is sufficiently large to build momentum in the marine energy sector.
“The industry now must work with government and broader stakeholders to deliver the Marine Energy Taskforce, get more technology in our waters, and support the ambition to make the UK a Clean Energy Superpower.“
