Scotland pledges funding for marine energy

Commercial scale wave and tidal power is to receive a significant boost, with the Scottish government today announcing its £18 million marine energy fund.

Claiming it will help transform Scotland into the “Saudi Arabia of marine energy”, first minister Alex Salmond announced to the All-Energy Conference in Aberdeen that Scotland is now seeking bids and will be open for funding applications for the next two months.

“Europe’s greatest wind, wave and tidal resources are heavily concentrated in the waters around these islands and Scotland is at the forefront of developing offshore and low carbon energy generation technologies,” Salmond said.

“The new fund brings together the marine renewables expertise of the Carbon Trust, the Scottish government and our expertise agencies. It will help move the wave and tidal sector from prototype devices to commercially viable arrays, producing increasing amounts of electricity solely from the power of the seas and deliver a lasting legacy for future generations.”

The fund, which is also known as the Marine Renewables Commercialisation Fund (MRCF), is hoping to attract bids from some of Scotland’s most high profile projects, such as those planned for waters off Orkney and the Pentland Firth.

Salmond’s announcement revealed the Scottish government hopes that, by using Scotland’s natural resources, which are perfectly suited to marine energy, Scotland can usher in a new era in renewable energy. It also opens up the opportunity to steal a march on other countries with the potential capacity its waters offer.

Scotland’s pledge to invest in renewable energy has been warmly received, with the WWF in particular voicing their approval.

“This boost for renewables is welcome news coming the day after the UK government revealed its plan to rig the energy market in favour of nuclear and gas,” said Dr Richard Dixon, director of WWF Scotland. “Scotland needs to keep sending the strong signal that renewables are the future here.”

The Scottish government is also expected to announce further funding opportunities towards the end of 2012. However, Salmond also revealed that there is to be a new Centre for CO2-Enhanced Oil Recovery in Scotland, which look at increasing  oil production in the North Sea.

Image: A tidal power plant in Sihwa Lake, South Korea | Wikimedia commons Zogin