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Marine energy potential
20/02/2009
Scotland will lead the future development of marine renewables within the UK and Ireland, it was agreed at today's Summit of the British Irish Council in Cardiff.
The proposal, to enable the Scottish Government to take leadership in maximising opportunities while driving innovation and growth in marine energy, was unanimously supported by the Council.
The UK Government will take forward work around proposals for an electricity 'supergrid.' Both Governments will provide progress reports to the bi-annual Summit after energy was established as a key issue to be considered at future meetings.
First Minister Alex Salmond said:
"Scotland's ambition for the development of marine renewables matches our capability. We can and will be a world leader in clean, green energy.
"From our wealth of natural resources in wind, wave and tidal power - with up to 25 per cent of Europe's renewable energy potential - Scotland is fast emerging as the powerhouse of marine renewables.
"This is why we launched the world's single greatest prize for innovation in the field - the £10 million Saltire Prize. Already, the Scottish Government has received 83 registrations of interest from organisations in 19 countries based across five continents, looking to compete for the Saltire Prize.
"During tough economic times, our renewables sector continues to perform strongly with more than £1 billion of investment in recent months. Our seas are open for offshore wind development, there is commercial investment in wave and tidal energy in the Pentland Firth, and only this week I opened the HQ in Aberdeen of another marine energy company locating in Scotland.
"Scotland is leading the world in renewable energy, and we are delighted to be leading this important work stream on behalf of the whole British-Irish Council."
Scottish Government targets are to meet 50 per cent of electricity demand from renewables by 2020, and an interim target of 31 per cent by 2011.
Total installed capacity of renewables in Scotland is over three Gigawatts. Adding in all the potential energy from consented renewable projects to those already operating brings the total to over 5.5 Gigawatts (around 35 per cent of electricity demand), meaning the Scottish Government is already set to surpass the 2011 target. In 2007, renewable electricity generation reached 20.1 per cent of gross electricity consumption.