Abstract
The Ocean Energy Programme (OEP) is a program to get marine hydrokinetic devices ready for commercial use. There is a pilot phase from 2009 until 2011. Then, from 2012 to 2018, the demonstration phase will further test the technologies. Finally, if everything goes well, the best technologies should be ready for market implementation after 2018. In addition, there are three projects, which highlight important environmental work. These are the Maren, Shetland, and Amets projects.
The OEP uses a system of rising importance for studying environmental impacts starting with screening and evaluating risks, learning from others, modeling/analyzing, and monitoring. In addition, there are several needs that will help in their environmental analyses. Some of these needs include: information sharing, developing and streamlining methodologies, and field surveying.