GBP 18 Million Available for Commercialisation of Scottish Wave Energy Sector

The Scottish Government today announced that the Carbon Trust will be running a new dedicated wave programme to help commercialise wave power in Scotland. The new scheme was announced by Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing at the All Energy conference in Aberdeen.

The £18m Marine Renewables Commercialisation Fund (MRCF), launched at All-Energy last year, will now be used to provide a dedicated support mechanism for the wave sector to enable wave projects get to the first array stage and development. This tailored approach for wave energy will be complemented by an innovation support programme for the enabling technologies that are crucial to the success of the earliest wave and tidal arrays. Both programmes will be run by the Carbon Trust.

This new proposal will ensure Scotland remains at the forefront of marine energy and is aimed at accelerating wave technologies towards commercial readiness, alongside their tidal counterparts.

Announcing the launch Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said:

“Scotland has a world-leading resource and is a hot-bed of innovation and talent, making marine energy an exciting green growth sector. The fact that three leading tidal projects in Scottish waters have recently secured funding from other sources – the European Commission’s NER300 fund and the UK Government’s Marine Energy Array Demonstrator scheme – offers the prospect do something different with the MRCF. We now have the chance to provide much-needed support for other marine renewables activities, while still fulfilling the goal of the MRCF – which is to help commercialise the marine energy industry in Scotland.

“Scotland needs both wave and tidal stream technologies to help decarbonise our electricity system, increase energy security, and reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels.

“The need for differentiated funding for wave and tidal technologies has been debated for a while now within industry circles. The marine renewables industry has spoken and we have listened.  All previous marine energy funding schemes have been open to both wave and tidal projects.  We are proposing something very different here in Scotland, making us the first in the UK.”

Dr Stephen Wyatt,  Director of Innovation at the Carbon Trust said:

“The Carbon Trust are delighted to be working with the Scottish Government to deliver this dedicated support mechanism of financial and technical support for the wave sector to enable wave projects to get to the first array stage.  This tailored approach for wave energy, complemented by a Marine Energy Accelerator for enabling technologies, will help keep Scotland, and the rest of the UK, in pole position to capitalise on the tremendous opportunity we have in marine energy.” 

[mappress]

Press release, May 22, 2013; Image: pelamiswave