Chamber and committees

There has been no precise limit on the fund. Instead, the sums allocated have been limited by the number of applications, as well as the limits imposed by the wider Scottish Enterprise energy team budget for each year. Around £250,000 has been awarded since the fund''s launch in June 2007.

Responsibility for administering the Marine Energy Collaboration Fund rests with the Scottish Enterprise energy team. Its purpose is to encourage and incentivise the collaboration of marine renewable developers with, for example, oil and gas engineering companies, and to access advice to address specific technical issues which will reduce costs and/or increase efficiency and performance.

Funding is a non-refundable grant contribution up to 50% of eligible costs for small and medium-sized enterprises, at a maximum of £100,000 per project. The fund has been allocated on a competitive basis, with applications assessed against the following criteria “ potential economic development impact, additionality, technical advancement and a thorough appraisal of the applicant.

Since the fund''s initial launch by Scottish Enterprise in June 2007, funding support worth £250,000 has been committed to the following four projects:

Scotrenewables (Orkney)

AWS (Alness)

Green Cat Energy (Lanarkshire)

Subsea Energy Scotland (Fife)

The fund''s purpose is to incentivise the collaboration of marine renewable developers with, for example, oil and gas engineering companies, and to access advice to address specific technical issues which will reduce costs and/or increase efficiency and performance.

The fund was promoted initially through mail-shot activities to companies known to Scottish Enterprise, and through industry bodies such as Scottish Renewables, the Industrial and Power Association and Subsea UK. The fund has also been announced at various industry events.

The Scottish Government has not quantified the impact on greenhouse gas emissions resulting from delivery of the Scottish Government''s renewable energy targets. However, prospective developers are now required to estimate the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from specific projects as part of the consents process under s36 of the Electricity Act.

The annual publication of Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland provides a measure of the trend in overall Scottish emissions. www.naei.org.uk/reports.php.

The Scottish Government publishes a summary of this data on its website at:

www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Environment/seso/sesoSubSearch/Q/SID/193.

The research project is very near completion and the final report will be published on the Scottish Government website in June 2008.

In tandem with the restructuring of the enterprise networks, Scottish Development International (SDI) will be deploying a greater proportion of its Scottish headquarters-based staff to local offices to deliver more direct support to companies. While there have been no specific changes to SDI''s remit, its operations will be increasingly aligned with those of the refocused Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise in pursuit of the Scottish Government''s purpose as outlined in The Government Economic Strategy.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12354 on 8 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

We are not planning any changes to the remit and operations of Scottish Development International (SDI) beyond the internal restructuring that is already underway.

We are, however, raising the level of ambition for what SDI can do for Scotland. The Government Economic Strategy sets out how we will focus government and public services, including SDI, on creating a more successful country through increasing sustainable economic growth.

Ministers also routinely join SDI professionals during parliamentary recess, and for example, in supporting events such as Scotland Week, to help promote Scotland and Scottish companies.

Scottish Development International''s (SDI) work is formally supervised by a management board made up of the Director-General Economy (chair) in the Scottish Government and the chief executives of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Officials collaborate on areas of joint interest for SDI''s work with VisitScotland and EventScotland. There is potential for a stronger working relationship in the future as the Scottish Government''s international framework, published on 22 April 2008, makes clear that Scottish ministers wish to see closer co-ordination between the various bodies that promote Scotland''s interests overseas.