£12 Million Wave And Tidal Energy Fund

22nd March 2010

'Waters' fund for wave and tidal deployment launched

A new £12 million Scottish Government fund to support the deployment of wave and tidal energy devices has been unveiled.

The Wave and Tidal Energy: Research, Development and Demonstration Support fund - to be known as WATERS - will support the testing of new wave and tidal prototypes in the seas around Scotland.

The fund will also assist in the development of new technologies, up to the prototype stage, particularly those which increase the effectiveness of installation, operation and maintenance of marine energy devices.

WATERS will be managed and administered by Scottish Enterprise, in partnership with the Scottish Government and HIE.

First Minister Alex Salmond said:"This new funding marks another significant step towards building a low carbon Scotland powered by clean, green energy.

"With as much as a quarter of Europe's tidal energy resource and a tenth of the potential wave capacity, the powers of our seas are unrivalled in Europe. And as we have seen this week in Orkney and the Pentland Firth, developers and innovators are queuing up to get wave and tidal devices in the waters.

"That is a tremendous first step. Of course, placing emerging technologies in harsh marine environments is extremely challenging. What we need to do is to support the continued development of the prototypes and technologies, at facilities like our world class testing centre on Orkney and elsewhere around Scotland.

"We know that initial costs remain high. The Scottish Government and others in the public sector can help attract private capital and investment in to these companies and technologies, helping cover those early costs. The WATERS fund will play a vital part in that process.

"With our £10 million Saltire Prize, the backing of our enterprise agencies and partnerships with The Crown Estate and developers, we are well-placed to secure Scotland's position as a global leader in marine energy."

Lena Wilson, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, commented: "The new WATERS Fund can generate real economic benefit for Scotland and Scottish businesses. With £12m to award, we can help wave and tidal projects and technologies reach commercial exploitation, creating new technologies with global potential, R&D jobs, and secure the fabrication and deployment of wave and tidal stream technologies in Scotland."

Elaine Hanton, head of HIE's energy team, added: "The Highlands and Islands are already leading the UK's drive towards a sustainable energy future and we want to see many wave and tidal projects developed around the waters of our region. This is a fantastic opportunity to further support technology development and maintain Scotland's position in the marine renewable sector."

Background
The WATERS fund primary focus is in supporting the deployment in Scottish waters of wave and tidal stream prototypes, including related infrastructure and the costs of very small arrays (where proportionate to the size of the fund). It will also support the development of new technologies, up to the prototype stage, particularly those aimed at improving effectiveness in key areas such as installation, operation and maintenance.

The fund will also:

* Support the deployment of wave and tidal stream technologies, both at the European Marine Energy Centre and elsewhere in Scottish waters;
* Provide progress for successful projects and prototypes towards commercial exploitation;
* Support advances in cost reduction and learning for wave and tidal stream technologies;
* Support the development of new technologies within the supply chain which can be integrated with devices to produce efficiency gains;
* lever additional private sector investment in the marine renewables sector;

The fund will be open to businesses that are legal entities registered or planning to register in Scotland, including Scottish subsidiaries of overseas companies.

The fund will welcome applications from projects in a position to move quickly. While there will be no deadline imposed by which projects must be completed, it is anticipated that projects will typically be of an 18 - 24 month year duration.

The fund opens for applications on Monday 22 March 2010 when further information will be available on the Scottish Enterprise website (www.scottish-enterprise.com).

The £12 million is being provided from the Scottish Government's renewables budget - £10 million in new funding and almost £2 million in unspent funding recycled from the previous wave and tidal support scheme.

The Scottish Low Carbon Investment Project (SLIP) will host a green energy finance conference in Edinburgh in the autumn. For further details, see: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2010/03/04151751