Tackling corrosion issues and developing new materials in the wave, tidal and offshore wind sectors across Europe could save developers up to £74 billion and create up to £72 billion of supply-chain opportunities by 2050, according to two new reports published earlier this month.

Commissioned by the NeSSIE project (North Sea Solutions for Innovation in Corrosion for Energy), the reports look at the economic potential of anti-corrosion solutions and the development of new materials in the offshore renewables market.

Corrosion is an important concern for offshore energy developers, as all marine structures face corrosion problems that affect the operation and maintenance (O&M) costs.

In the case of offshore wind farms, the O&M costs are typically around 15-30% of the total life-cycle costs, with corrosion issues a significant element.

The reports found that, based on offshore renewable deployment forecasts, anti-corrosion solutions and new materials could save over £14 billion for developers of wave and tidal energy projects in the EU by 2050 and over £60 billion for developers of offshore wind projects.

For the anti-corrosion supply chain, the wave and tidal energy markets could potentially lead to over £22 billion of projects in the wider EU by 2050 and over £50 billion for offshore wind projects.

Jan Reid, team leader in the energy and clean technologies team within Scottish Enterprise, said: “This early work is really encouraging.

"We can see there is a tremendous economic prize for the EU offshore supply chain in tackling this challenge and helping the EU to decarbonise the energy sector. The key to unlocking this opportunity is developing investable demonstration projects that will prove the technological solutions.

"Working together with stakeholders, we at NeSSIE are excited to be involved in the development of anti-corrosion solution demonstration projects.”

Stefano Valentini, project manager of NeSSIE partner ASTER (Società Consortile per Azioni), which led the study, said: “It is clear from this early work that there is a wide range of technical solutions that can be deployed to great effect in the offshore renewables sector.

“The EU supply chain is at the forefront of sub-sea excellence, and we are confident this will bring forth solutions that will see the cost of energy coming down in offshore renewables.”