Meanwhile, Darwin, Australia is preparing to set up the Southern Hemisphere's first tidal energy facility.
Leases are also agreed for wave and tidal energy over this decade with a capacity of 1.6 gigawatts.
In February, Wales' first commercial tidal energy farm planned off the coast of Anglesey won Welsh government approval.
Emec lies at the core of this cluster and the new tidal energy testing facility will reinforce this.
BBC: NEWS | UK | Scotland | North East/N Isles | Orkney tidal power plans unveiled
It hopes SOEC will become a managed tidal energy test facility, generating 20MW - enough to power 8, 000 homes.
Compared to offshore wind farms, tidal energy devices like the turbine trialed in Scotland are completely hidden from view.
Earlier this month, Highland Council also gave its backing to a tidal energy project planned for the Pentland Firth.
The development came as plans were submitted for underwater turbines for a tidal energy farm off the coast of Anglesey.
Tidal Energy Ltd is working with renewable energy company Eco2 Ltd which has developed projects in biomass, wind and landfill gas.
Its priorities include wave and tidal energy, and renewable district heating.
According to IBM Distinguished Engineer Harry Kolar, noise is one of the many potential environmental impacts of both wave energy and tidal energy currently being studied.
FORBES: Wave Energy: The Latest Battleground in the Conservation vs. Innovation Debate
Earlier this year Cardiff-based Tidal Energy Ltd was given the go-ahead by ministers to test its new DeltaStream underwater generators off the coast for a 12-month trial.
If it goes ahead, the computer data centre would provide services for a number of companies and would be powered by tidal energy rather than rely on fossil fuel.
We are also exploring new sources like tidal energy, which places propellers in San Francisco Bay that move with the tide, and livestock, where you capture cow manure for biogas.
There are lots of small initiatives, either at the user end -- e.g. turning off stand-by switches, drinking tap water -- or the supply end -- e.g. wind energy, tidal energy.
According to Kolar, tidal energy also has great potential.
FORBES: Wave Energy: The Latest Battleground in the Conservation vs. Innovation Debate
In mid-July, the department's Mineral Management Services, which controls the mineral rights on federal lands, asserted its jurisdiction over renewable energy projects--wind, wave, solar and tidal energy--on federal waters in the Outer Continental Shelf.
Now companies pursuing wave and tidal energy, both of which require the installment of buoys and turbines in the ocean, are working to head off any concerns about the impact of such equipment on marine ecosystems.
FORBES: Wave Energy: The Latest Battleground in the Conservation vs. Innovation Debate
Because the area around the St Davids peninsula is fully exposed to the storm waves of the Atlantic and has major tidal streams it has been identified by the assembly government as a potential site for tidal energy.
Tidal turbines can be installed closer to shore than wave energy equipment, and thanks to the regularity of the tides, tidal power offers a more stable renewable energy source than, say, intermittent wind or solar.
FORBES: Wave Energy: The Latest Battleground in the Conservation vs. Innovation Debate
The device is designed to generate energy from tidal currents on the seabed.
Meanwhile, Wilson is talking up the prospects for extra support for companies where their market is barely there yet, such as tidal and wave renewable energy.
Ambitious plans for offshore renewable energy projects are crowding the waters--floating wind farms, tidal-power turbines and wave-energy barges--all expected in the next decade.
In December 1995 the space probe Galileo showed that Europa probably has an ocean beneath its icy crust, with tidal heating providing a likely energy source.
The prospects for his energy storage idea with tidal power are perhaps even better.
"We can tackle climate change without having to resort to polluting nuclear power if we ensure all forms of renewable energy, including wave and tidal sources, are used, " he said.
BBC: NEWS | UK | Scotland | Positive waves over power project
In the next decade meeting our existing renewables and efficiency targets would safely close any "energy gap" we might face and cut emissions, while leaving plenty of potential to expand clean energy solutions like wind, tidal and solar even further later.
The Renewable Energy Commission has also been looking at the potential for offshore tidal and wind power, which Deputy Duhamel said could play a significant role in improving the island's energy security in the future.
That would force power companies to take more of their supply from green energy sources, like wave and tidal power.
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