The Regional Locational Guidance will sit within the wider marine planning structure being developed by Marine Scotland and will provide localised information to the marine renewables sector and regulators. This will contain relevant information including, for example, information on environmental sensitivities, other marine users and the socio-economic structure of the area / region.
Regional Locational Guidance will be informed by the trial Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Marine Spatial Plan (MSP)framework which is being managed by Marine Scotland. The Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters MSP is the first of its kind in Scottish waters and will provide important baseline information for the development of similar approaches in other areas of Scotland's seas. Marine Scotland published a draft MSP framework in March 2010 and, following an informal public consultation, finalised the document in March 2011.
The Saltire Prize Programme is a partnership between the Scottish Government (SG) and The Crown Estate (TCE), the purpose of which is to stimulate innovation that will lead to delivery of commercial scale wave or tidal stream energy technology.