Question reference: S3W-26836
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: 1 September 2009
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Current status: Answered by Jim Mather on 8 September 2009
Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to provide direct capital or revenue support to marine energy companies to enable them to further develop full-scale marine energy prototypes through to commercial fruition.
Answer
The Scottish Government is continuing to provide direct capital support to several projects which were awarded grants under the first WATES round. We expect some of these projects to start receiving revenue payments in the near future, following their successful deployment at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.
We have also introduced the highest levels of revenue support for wave and tidal power within the UK, following recent changes to our Renewables Obligation legislation with five ROCs for wave and three ROCs for tidal stream projects.
The Scottish Government also welcomes the proposed £22 million Marine Energy Proving Fund, announced by DECC and which will be available for projects across the UK. This fund will build on our successful WATES scheme, supporting the testing and demonstration of pre-commercial wave and tidal stream devices.
We have also introduced the £10 million Saltire Prize challenge, which will attract international investment in the commercial deployment of marine renewables in Scottish waters.