Scotland seas have been further opened up for wave and tidal energy development to support the £10 million Saltire Prize.
The Crown Estate is running a new leasing round for projects up to 30 Megawatts (MW) capacity to support developers hoping to win the Saltire Prize.
Scotland seas have been further opened up for wave and tidal energy development to support the £10 million Saltire Prize.
The Crown Estate is running a new leasing round for projects up to 30 Megawatts (MW) capacity to support developers hoping to win the Saltire Prize.
Marine Scotland has also today published guidance on the areas of Scotland’s seas most suited to development. The guidance highlights the areas considered as most appropriate for wave and tidal energy – reflecting potential power output, limited environmental and technical constraints and development possible within the Saltire Prize timescales. These five areas are:
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West of Hebrides (wave)
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West of Shetland (wave)
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South West of Shetland (wave)
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West of Mull of Kintyre (tidal)
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South West of Islay (tidal)
Energy Minister Jim Mather said:
“The Saltire Prize is our 10 million pounds challenge to the world to push back the boundaries of marine energy innovation. With two confirmed applicants and over 150 registrations of interest from around the world, the Saltire Prize will accelerate the commercial development of wave and tidal energy technology.
“This new leasing round supporting Saltire Prize applicants will open up Scotland’s seas for further development and sends a global signal that Scotland is the place to invest in marine renewables. Marine Scotland’s regional locational guidance underpins this process and helps competitors choose the areas most suited to wave and tidal development.
“We greatly value our strong working relationship with The Crown Estate as it helps us ensure that Scotland leads the UK in giving wave and tidal energy developers the best opportunities to harness the power of our seas.”
Johanna Yates, Marine Policy Manager at Scottish Renewables, said:
“There’s still huge demand from industry to develop and deploy wave and tidal devices around Scotland, which is why it’s important to continue opening up areas of our seas for business. The Saltire Prize aids Scotland’s global lead in marine energy, encouraging developers to break new ground through innovation and demonstration of technologies.
“We look forward to considering the locational guidance in detail, which should help to make the best use of our assets by helping the industry site projects in the right areas. Industry will continue to work with government to find ways to secure sustainable finance and improve grid connections.”
The Saltire Prize, Scotland’s £10 million challenge to accelerate the commercial development of marine energy, is open for applications until January 2015.
One of the biggest international innovation prizes in history, the Saltire Prize Challenge is: “10 million pounds will be awarded to the team that can demonstrate in Scottish waters, a commercially viable wave or tidal stream energy technology that achieves the greatest volume of electrical output over the set minimum hurdle of 100 Gigawatt hours over a continuous two year period using only the power of the sea.”
The Scottish Low Carbon Investment Conference (SLIC) will be held in Edinburgh next week (September 28-29). It is a unique forum for Government, international finance, utilities and developers of low carbon projects to engage directly on investment opportunities.
The Conference will bring projects and investors together, to identify and debate the risks, rewards, opportunities and challenges within the low carbon arena – major off-shore developments, infrastructure and ‘venture’ size projects. It will facilitate innovative investment solutions and also showcase Scotland’s skills, resources, research and technical expertise.