The objective of this catalogue is to provide an overview of the development of wave energy projects across Europe. This is framed within the context of the need to address climate change and concerns over security of oil and gas supplies. Both of these have driven European policy-makers to develop and implement a European energy policy. The European Commission has set ambitious targets for all Member States through a Directive promoting the use of energy from renewable sources (2009/28/EC), taken forward at Member State level through a National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP). Many coastal European States have recognised that marine renewable energy developments will play a key role in meeting their targets. This document presents the targets set by each State in their NREAP and specifically identifies the level of ocean energy (tidal or wave) that would be required to meet those targets. Offshore wind is included for comparative purposes. The NREAP targets are supplemented by ocean energy objectives garnered from various other strategies and roadmaps. This report also addressed the future potential spatial footprint of wave energy developments. The targets set in the NREAPs and other documented scenarios are used to calculate the potential number and spatial extent of wave energy farms required, based on the current state of the technology and operational experience. These predictions will provide an essential contribution to future Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) systems in EU Member States. The final data section gives an overview of the wave energy development situation in Europe as of early 2011, summarising the wave energy projects that have been tested in the sea to date, those that are currently operational and those that are in the planning stage. These projects range from demonstration type projects to examples of where full-scale devices have been deployed or are planned for deployment in the near future. Information presented relates primarily to the physical characteristics of the site and the technology type in place. The catalogue concludes with a summary of the main findings from the above work. The document is accompanied by an Annex, with information on devices that have been tested in the sea since 1999, those that are currently operational and those that are in the planning stage. The data contained in the catalogue will act as the foundation for many of the SOWFIA Project‟s deliverables. Most imminently, an inventory of all available environmental impact data collected, or in the process of collection, at each of the wave energy test centres listed here will be developed. This catalogue therefore provides a snapshot of the state of the wave energy industry in Europe and its predicted development in the coming decade. It forms a baseline for understanding the developments needed in technology, policy, funding and monitoring. This is essential if the required European-wide device development and testing programmes, technical support infrastructure, and streamlined consenting and permitting regimes are to be developed to facilitate the growth of this industry. Throughout these processes, social, environmental and economic impacts must be considered. The report has four aims: to document the various targets set by coastal Member States for ocean energy; to determine the spatial requirements for these; to provide a methodology for progressing the technology; and to outline the devices that have been tested in the sea since 1999 and those that are in the planning stage.Inteligent Energy Europe Programme of the European Unio
