Four ocean energy developers will be awarded a total of almost £2 million development funding by Wave Energy Scotland (WES) after successfully competing to the second phase of a technology programme.
The funding will support further design, modelling and testing of technologies being developed to help commercialise the Scottish wave energy sector and brings the total investment by WES in Scottish wave energy technology to £11.8 million across 39 projects in less than two years.
WES selected the projects as the most promising of eight applications from contractors in stage one of its Power Take Off (PTO) programme, which focuses on converting the movement of wave energy converters to electricity. The winning projects will now progress to stage two of the programme, which they are expected to complete in the next year.
Kenneth Gibson said:
“Wave energy has great potential to contribute to Scotland’s energy supply and that of the UK and EU. If we are able to harness this important energy resource, there are great opportunities to generate exports to the rest of the world. The SNP Government’s sustained funding has allowed companies to develop genuinely novel components for wave energy devices, helping them bring such projects to commercial viability.
“This investment comes just two weeks after the SNP Government invested £23 million into MayGen, the world’s biggest tidal turbine energy project. When fully operational, that 400 Mega Watt project is expected to generate enough electricity to power 175,000 Scottish homes and generate around £275 million for Scotland’s economy.
“Scotland is recognised as being a world leader in tidal energy innovation and deployment and at the forefront of efforts to tackle climate change. MeyGen is invigorating the marine renewables industry and providing vital jobs for a skilled workforce, retaining valuable offshore expertise here in Scotland that would otherwise be lost overseas. Highly skilled operation and maintenance jobs will be carried out locally, providing sustained employment in rural and island communities.”
The four projects progressing to stage two of the wave energy convertor programme are: Wave Energy Transmission Module: Contract Award: £496,200 Controlled Magnet Gear: Contract Award: £498,420 Inflatable Dielectric Elastomer Generator PTO: Contract award: £498,000 A compliant seal free hydraulic PTO: Contract Award: £495,000
