The government has made a strong move in support of tidal energy, by committing £20 million per year to tidal stream projects.

It will be ringfencing this support as part of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme due to open on December 13.

This move is excellent news for Perpetuus Tidal Energy Centre (PTEC).

Provided that planning permission for our onshore operations is granted later this year, with this government support we are all set to create England’s first multi megawatt tidal stream energy generation scheme.

The Perpetuus team has worked tirelessly in partnership with the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) to put everything in place.

Most local people are excited about the opportunities that this tidal energy scheme will bring to the Isle of Wight, and the chance to harness a totally reliable, zero carbon source of energy.

Yet once again various inaccurate reports are circulating about the PTEC project, led by a small group of residents.

We would like to assure Islanders that we have worked closely with the Isle of Wight Council’s planning department to meet strict noise limits and environmental guidelines.

The views of local residents are important to us and as such we recently held a meeting with the residents of Flowers Brook at Ventnor Rugby Club.

I attended along with key members of the project team and technical experts to address people’s questions in detail.

Our aim was to reassure attendees that our tidal energy scheme is fully viable as a commercial project — not a test site — and that we seek to understand and respond to their concerns.

We also verbally committed our intention to repay the council’s initial investment in the scheme, which has been crucial in getting the project to this point.

While it seems that there is still some reluctance to accept our positive objectives and commitments, there is no doubt that we are on the brink of a huge step forward in clean, reliable energy for the UK and beyond.

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