The manager of the UK seabed also approved five new wave and tidal current sites, each with a potential to deliver a project of between 10MW and 30MW.
Greg Barker, Minister for Energy and Climate Change said the approval will help the UK ensure these sectors reach their full potential in our country’s future energy mix.
"Wave and tidal stream are growing green, clean energy sources which have the potential to sustain thousands of jobs in a sector worth, from exports alone, a possible £4 billion per annum by 2050," Change added.
The demonstration zones and project sites locations include three off the coast of England, four off the coast of Scotland, one in Northern Ireland and three off the coast of Wales.
The Crown Estate launched the wave and tidal current leasing process in October 2013 and has selected the new demonstration zones for their suitability for test and demonstration activities.
With this leasing process now complete, the demonstration zone managers will seek developers for the zones and to undertake additional work including gathering environmental data to help developers with the consenting process.
In order to meet market appetite, the Crown Estate will now consider further optimizing leasing processes.
Image: Crown Estate approves demonstrations zones and project sites for marine power. Photo: courtesy of © The Crown Estate 2014.
