This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Scotland seeks world lead in marine power
20/02/2007
Grants worth more than £13 million have been awarded for marine energy projects in Scottish waters, mostly in Orkney where the world's largest commercial wave power farm is being developed.
Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen revealed details of the nine projects that will share the money, with the initial fund of £8 million increased by £5.15 million to meet demand.
The funding will be supplemented by an additional £500,000 to develop a testing berth at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.
And Ministers also confirmed today that the Executive has reached its target to have 18 per cent of Scotland's electricity generated from renewable sources years ahead of schedule.
Mr Stephen said:
"Today marks a vital milestone in Scotland's drive to be the world leader in the development of marine renewables.
"Last October I announced that £8 million would be available for companies to develop marine energy project in Scottish waters.
"I am delighted to announce the nine successful bidders today. I am also very pleased to confirm that we are able to fund an additional £5 million worth of projects: £13 million of new investment in world-class wave and tidal projects here in Scotland.
"There are some real Scottish success stories amongst the grant recipients. ScotRenewables is a small and very young company based in Orkney. There is a major Pelamis project involving four machines, which the companies involved hope will proceed in the next 12 months. This will be the world's biggest commercial wave project - significantly bigger than the major Portuguese scheme.
"The increase in the value of the fund is a mark of the importance we give to marine energy developments. Scotland has the potential to generate a quarter of Europe's marine energy and kick-starting the sector is vital if we are to create a significant industry based in Scotland and meet our long-term renewables targets."
On the issue of targets, Mr Stephen said:
"We have already made huge strides forward in renewable energy. I am delighted to be able to confirm today that our first target on renewable generation - 18 per cent by 2010 - has now been met, years ahead of schedule.
"This is a proud moment for the industry in Scotland as we continue our progress to being Europe's renewable energy powerhouse."
Successful bidders for a share of the Marine Energy Fund are:
CRE Energy Ltd £4.141 million
to use four of Ocean Power Delivery's Pelamis devices arranged as a single wave energy array. Each device will be rated at 750kW giving a total array of output of 3MW
AWS Ocean Energy £2.128 million
design, construction, installation, testing and demonstration of a 500kW Archimedes Wave Swing ("AWS") wave energy converter at the European Wave Energy Centre
ScotRenewables £1.796 million
the SRTT is a floating tidal stream energy converter. The concept involves dual horizontal-axis rotors driving generators within sub-surface nacelles
Open Hydro £1.214 million
250kW Open-Centre Turbine to be installed on the sea bed at EMEC's tidal site. OpenHydro was the first company to install a tidal turbine at EMEC during 2006
Ocean Power Technology £0.598 million
The PowerBuoy is a buoy acting as a point absorber which moves up and down a central 'spar' as the wave passes by
Aquamarine £0.275 million
Oyster devices are designed to exploit the wave resource in near-shore locations. The near-shore environment is considered to be an optimal location for a device as the waves retain significant power compared to an offshore location but the damaging extreme waves are limited by water depth. This location is considered to reduce the capital and operating costs and hence maximise economic efficiency
CleanTechCom £0.273 million
two 1m diameter siphon pipes which pass through the No 1 Churchill Barrier on land at the Northern tip of Lamb Holm island on Orkney
Wavegen £0.149 million
development and testing of an advanced Wells turbine system which is expected to be utilized on a wave energy project on the Western Isles, at Siadar, which is currently being developed with npower renewables. This project will use Wavegen's existing Oscillating Water Column (OWC) at the Limpet site, near Portnahaven on the island of Islay
Tidal Generation £0.077 million
extraction of a core sample of seabed from the berth area Tidal Generation's machine will occupy
The bulk of the successful projects will take place in and around the EMEC in Orkney, with the installation of small arrays/single devices at the wave and tidal test facilities there. Devices are expected in the water this year, with full commissioning during 2008.
An additional £2.5 million has been ring-fenced for upgrading the site at the EMEC to help accommodate these devices.