Representative technology development of marine renewable energy in China

Abstract

The increasing energy demand and the global climate change problem make Chinese government consider renewable energy as a solution for the sustainable development. Under the support of the special fund program for Marine Renewable Energy (SFPMRE) established since 2010, about 1 billion Yuan (130 million dollars) has been funded for the R&D and demonstration of MRE technologies in China. Some wave and tidal current energy technologies have suffered rigorous sea test and continuous demonstration. The Plan of Marine Renewable Energy Development (2016-2020) released in Dec 2016 presents that the accumulative installed capacity for wave energy converters reaches 1 MW and 10 MW for tidal turbines till 2020, and more than 5 islands would be supplied by the complementary power generation of MRE and other REs. The representative MRE technologies have been confronted with opportunities to improve the technology readiness levels towards commercialization.