Pelamis Wave Power celebrates outcome of The Crown Estate's Announcement

16th March 2010

Pelamis Wave Power Ltd (PWP), the Edinburgh based developers of the Pelamis wave energy converter, have been named as the technology supplier for three major offshore wave energy projects in the world's first seabed leasing round off the north coast of Scotland.

The three Pelamis projects which were successfully awarded lease options from The Crown Estate in the UK's first marine energy leasing round include:

- A 50MW offshore wave project with E.ON UK, off the west coast of the Orkney Islands, and
- A 50MW offshore wave project with Scottish Power Renewables, also off the west coast of the Orkney Islands, and
- A third 50MW wave farm site off the north coast of Sutherland being developed by PWP themselves.

Commenting on the three projects, with a cumulative capacity of 150MW, Chief Executive Officer of PWP, Neels Kriek, said: "The Crown Estate's process has set our industry on course towards delivering marine projects of utility scale, and PWP is delighted that both Scottish Power Renewables and E.ON UK endorsed our technology in their applications. We are proudly and uniquely aligned in our respective goals of delivering renewable energy through multiple commercial Pelamis projects in the next 5 to 10 years."

Kriek continued: "The challenges associated with the ambitions which have been set today are significant, and the team at PWP are energised to embrace these challenges to the benefit of E.ON UK, Scottish Power Renewables, our other customers and the UK low carbon economy objectives. I am confident that we are ideally placed with the significant support from the Scottish Government and DECC to translate today's announcement into a global success for the UK, Scotland and the sector."

Roger Bright CB, Chief Executive of The Crown Estate said: "I am delighted to announce that Pelamis Wave Power has been awarded the Armadale site to develop 50MW of wave energy power in Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters, the world's first commercial wave and tidal leasing round.

"The 1.2GW of installed capacity proposed by the wave and tidal energy developers for 2020 shows the world that marine energy can produce meaningful amounts of electricity and offers a real alternative to conventional power production. The long term prospects for this growing industry are exceptionally bright, with vast amounts of untapped energy in the seas all around the UK. It will create new businesses and jobs as well as attracting inward investment."


PWP are currently in the final stages of building the first Pelamis P2 machine for E.ON at their manufacturing facility in Leith Docks. The machine is due to be installed at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney this summer to commence grid connected demonstration trials.

Lord Moynihan, the Chairman of PWP welcomed the First Minister's announcement saying: "This marks a huge achievement for our sector, and we see it as a defining opportunity to build on our achievements to date. Politicians in Edinburgh and London have made real commitments to the wave and tidal sectors and the delivery of the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Round will see this commitment come to fruition as we expand the capabilities and industries to build and operate the technology at scale whilst generating low carbon renewable electricity."

Sandra McCaughey of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) welcomed the news: "We very much look forward to working further with Pelamis Wave Power in developing their projects. It presents a real opportunity for the local supply chain and we will continue to work with local businesses to help them engage with the industry and bring new jobs into the area."


Note to editor

1. Pelamis Wave Power Ltd (formerly Ocean Power Delivery) has been developing the Pelamis wave energy converter since 1998. PWP have delivered a number of key milestones for the emerging wave and tidal sector including: the first export of power from an offshore wave energy converter when the full-scale prototype Pelamis was tested at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) off Orkney in 2004, and securing the first commercial supply contract for wave generators which were successfully commissioned in the world's first wave farm in Portugal in 2008. PWP are currently manufacturing the first Pelamis P2 machine for utility client E.ON for deployment at EMEC in 2010 as part of the UK's first commercial contract for the marine sector.

2. In February 2010 PWP and project partners E.ON we awarded £4.8m for the current P2 project by the Carbon Trust under the Marine Renewable Proving Fund, a new funding scheme from DECC.

3. In their 2009 report "Marine Energy Road Map"; The Scottish Government/marine industry group (Marine Energy Group) estimated that as many as 5,300 jobs could be generated by the marine sector in Scotland by 2020.

4. In April 2009 the Scottish Government introduced a 5 ROC (Renewable Obligation Certificate) banding for wave energy generation to help encourage private investment into wave energy technologies and projects within Scottish waters.

5. Wave energy (captured from wind driven ocean waves) should not be confused with tidal energy (captured from tidal streams, lagoons, or barrages).