An Overview of Ocean Energy Policies Across the World

Ocean Energy (OE) has been growing steadily in several countries, mainly due to forward-looking and long-term government policies. The mechanisms adopted for the promotion of OE include tax credits, incentives on production, pricing laws, trading systems, and quota requirements. Progressive policies and OE growth are directly correlated. The critical barriers to the sustainable development of OE include high capital cost, connection to grid, operation & maintenance (O&M) cost, remoteness from the seashore, environmental consent, and clearances required from multiple agencies. The paper touches upon the key OE policies of a few countries and associated support schemes worldwide to better understand some of the fundamental mechanisms driving the OE sector. The individual country profiles are grouped by continent and include Europe (UK, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany), North America (USA, Canada) and Asia (South Korea, Japan, China). This paper would help the researchers and policymakers to understand the enabling mechanisms for the growth of OE projects across the world.