The Crown Estate this week granted 10 project licenses to companies committed to build wave and tidal power plants generating up to 1.2 gigawatts of electricity -- roughly the capacity of a large nuclear power plan -- within 10 years.

"The U.K. has the technological lead, the experience and some of the best natural resources in the world, enabling the launch of the first wave and tidal energy projects on a commercial scale," said Roger Bright, chief executive officer of the Crown Estate.

The British government-owned property manager said the plants -- envisioned by companies including Eon from Germany, Scottish and Southern Energy and Scottish Power Renewables -- would be built off the northern coast of the Scottish mainland for an estimated $6 billion.

Tides and currents off the Scottish coast are so strong that Alex Salmon, Scotland's first minister, has hopes his country can become the Saudi Arabia of marine energy.

The devices deployed include the 450-foot Pelamis sea snake, which rides waves parallel to their direction and absorbs energy by restricting the motion of the bodies relative to each other by hydraulic rams; OpenHydro, a jet-like turbine attached to the sea floor; the so-called Oyster machine, a ground-based bulky-looking device with a large bolt that swings back and forth; and SeaGen, which looks like an underwater wind turbine.

Off the Northern Irish coast, SeaGen has been tested for the past two years. Its turbines in February passed 1,000 hours of operation and have delivered 800 megawatt hours into the national grid, the BBC reports.

The Northern Irish government this week launched an action plan to boost marine energy. Philip Hunt, a state secretary with the British Energy Ministry, said he believes marine energy could save up to 70 million tons of carbon dioxide by 2050, with 16,000 jobs created in the process, the BBC reports.

Companies are equally convinced that marine energy will succeed: Swedish utility Vattenfall says wave power can ultimately produce around 250 terawatt hours of green power, enough to supply up to 40 million people.

But experts warn that the local grids are often unable to transport power generated off the coast to homes in the countryside. In Scotland, experts say grid investments of around $1.5 billion are necessary to actually harvest the power generated by the marine plants.

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