Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing has announced a further £4 million funding boost for the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, which develops and trials new wave and tidal energy technologies.

Speaking at the Wave and Tidal Energy Conference in London, Mr Ewing explained that £3 million would be spent on extending the existing facilities so that a second wave device can be installed. Another £1.1 million will be used by EMEC to examine the role of support vessels in installing and maintaining marine energy devices – the first project of its kind.

Elsewhere at the conference, two marine energy parks announced that they will be joining forces to share information, ideas and resources with the aim of speeding up the development of marine energy technologies. Located at opposite ends of Great Britain, Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Marine Energy Park in Scotland and South West Marine Energy Park in Bristol have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to formalise their commitment to a working partnership.

Both these major developments were warmly welcomed by RenewableUK, which organised the conference. Chief Executive Maria McCaffery commented: ‘It is developments like this that we need to see more of if we are to keep our place at the front of the race to decarbonise our economy and energy supply.’

Wilding says: ‘It’s pleasing to see marine energy really starting to make its mark on the renewables industry. There’s huge potential for generating large amounts of green electricity from wave and tidal technologies, if they can be operated on a commercial scale – and these new developments should help make that happen.’

Source: RenewableUK / RenewableUK