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This document specifies the general requirements for the grid integration of marine energy generation(MEG), including wave, tidal and other water current energy technologies. Applicable to medium- and large-scale MEG projects connecting to the transmission grid.
The scope covers the technical interface between MEG and the power system, addressing aspects such as voltage and frequency compatibility, power control, fault ride -through capability, and grid support functionalities. This document is intended to provide harmonized requirements for safe, reliable, and efficient integration of marine energy generation into existing grid infrastructures.
Global power systems are entering a new stage of renewable diversification, where marine energy—covering wave, tidal, tide, ocean thermal, and salinity gradient energy — has emerged as a promising yet under-standardized frontier. Worldwide renewable capacity reached about 4,448 GW in 2024, the installed capacity of ocean energy is approximately 494MW [1] (the installed capacity recorded by IEA-OES is 530 MW [2]), with marine energy contributing a small but fast-growing share.
Countries such as those in Europe and America have continued to enhance foundational infrastructure, including offshore marine energy test sites, indoor laboratories, and equipment testing and certification facilities. These efforts support the verificatio n and optimization of marine energy technologies, promote their industrialization and standardization, and drive the gradual commercialization of global marine energy technologies.
According to IRENA, global installed marine energy capacity is expected to reach 70 GW by 2030 and 350 GW by 2050 [1]. Development is concentrated in Europe (notably the UK, France, and Portugal), East Asia (China, Japan, and Korea), and parts of North Ame rica. Taking the UK, a pioneer in tidal energy technology demonstration, as an example, by the end of 2023, the country accounted for over 70% of global installed capacity of operational tidal power stations and nearly 90% of grid-connected tidal electricity generation worldwide [4]. The representative project is the MeyGen tidal energy power station, which has been grid - connected with a capacity of 6 MW and is planned to expand to 398 MW. By the end of 2024, China’s installed marine energy capacity exceede d 12 MW, ranking fourth globally; tidal and tide energy dominate domestically, while wave energy ranks first worldwide. China targets about 400 MW by 2030 through multi-energy island systems and demonstration projects.
The global development of marine energy is not only reflected in the increase in installed capacity but also in a significant reduction in power generation costs. According to findings by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, the levelized cost of electricity LCOE for tidal energy decreased by over 40% between 2015 and 2018 [5]. Data from the UK's fourth, fifth, and sixth rounds of Contracts for Difference CfD auctions show that newly approved tidal energy projects secured contracted electricity prices of approximately USD 0.22-0.26/kWh. Meanwhile, China's LHD Tidal Energy Station has achieved an LCOE as low as USD 0.15/kWh. These advancements indicate that marine energy is transitioning from the experimental demonstration phase to commercial viab ility. As deployment accelerates, safe and reliable grid integration has become essential for sustainable growth.
Marine energy is abundant, renewable, and predictable, offering a clean ocean -based power source with relatively high energy density. However, compared to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, marine energy generation systems not only face harsher underwater marine environments but also differ in terms of primary energy characteristics and prime mover properties. The harsh underwater environment may impact equipment performance, including insulation properties, while maintenance difficultie s necessitate a balance between operational performance and reliability. As for the primary energy characteristics and prime mover properties, seawater is incompressible and far denser than air, resulting in rotor diameters significantly smaller than those of wind turbines for the same rated capacity. This leads to low rotational inertia, which diminishes energy buffering effects and introduces power rigidity issues. Furthermore, the power coefficient of tidal turbines has a much narrower peak efficiency band compared to wind turbines, resulting in some severely underestimated performance discrepancies. More critically, all turbine units within the same tidal farm experience strongly positively correlated flow velocities. These issues collectively impact the power generation and grid integration of marine energy systems, posing technical hurdles that require targeted solutions for reliable operation.
As the sector remains at an early stage of development, it urgently requires cross -sector collaboration, standard coordination, and scalable grid integration frameworks to ensure the safe and reliable deployment of marine energy projects.
Unlike the mature wind and PV sectors, marine energy still needs flexible and adaptive grid requirements that can accommodate emerging and evolving technologies. Currently, no dedicated international standard exists for the grid connection of marine energy systems into bulk power grid. Although organizations such as EMEC [6] and IEC have published standards or guidelines related to marine energy and renewable integ ration, none specifically address grid connection requirements. While the IEC 62600 series provides a comprehensive framework for the technical specifications of marine energy converters, its focus remains primarily on the definition and specification of t he quantities to be determined for characterizing a marine energy (wave, tidal, and other water current) converter unit [7]. However, these standards fall short in addressing the future technical requirements for large - scale grid integration of marine energy. As a result, many projects apply wind or solar grid codes by analogy (for example, IEC 61400 series [9], etc.), which fail to capture marine systems’ hybrid mechanical–electrical characteristics and subsea infrastructure interfaces. Specifically, despite their superficial similarities, tidal current energy and wind power exhibit significant differences in terms of primary energy characteristics and prime mover characteristics. Several national grid codes for wind power integration (e.g., in China, Germany, and Spain) have imposed requirements on grid frequency support and reactive power capability during fault ride-through. This presents potential technical challenges that may be overlooked for tidal energy units, which exhibit low inertia and power rigi dity, which makes it essential to develop reasonable and differentiated grid fault ride -through and frequency support strategies for tidal current energy. The potential interharmonics issues associated with wave energy driven by reciprocating mechanisms du ring large-scale grid integration require special attention.
A harmonized international standard can fill this gap by defining adaptive general requirements for the connection of marine energy generation into bulk power grids. Such a standard would draw from global best practices and provide a unified framework for grid operators, equipment manufacturers, and certification bodies. It will promote interoperability, enhance power system stability, and lower the technical barriers to market entry, thereby accelerating marine renewable energy’s contribution to the clean energy transition and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Recognizing these needs, following the 2024 Plenary Meeting, IEC TC 114 (Marine Energy Conversion Systems) referred this need to SC 8A. The two committees maintained close communication in 2025, registered a PWI project under JWG5 in September 2025, and li nked JWG5 to TC 114. This project has gathered global input through plenaries, questionnaires, and expert workshops (e.g., sessions in Shanghai in January 2025, Dublin in April 2025, Rome in June 2025, New Delhi in September 2025, Shanghai in October 2025, Copenhagen in January 2026). This proposal reflects the consensus to consolidate widely shared requirements into a single, interface-focused IEC standard.
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