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The marine and tidal energy sector is to benefit from £6 million in funding to further develop testing of new wave and tidal prototypes in the seas around Scotland.
Scottish Enterprise is launching a second round of the remaining competitive funding from the initial WATERS £13 million fund, launched in March 2010.
To reduce the cost of developing wave and tidal technologies, the WATERS 2 call will promote research and development activities in Scotland aimed at bringing low-cost-energy marine energy devices to commercial application. The call is open to receive proposals.
First Minister Alex Salmond said: "Scotland is leading the world in the development of marine renewable energy. A wide range of both Scottish firms and major overseas companies such as Alstom, ABB, E.ON, Vattenfall and Kawasaki are investing in the development and testing of wave and tidal generation technologies in Scottish waters. It is increasingly clear that Scotland rules the waves.
"However, we will continue to work with our enterprise agencies, SDI and the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, to provide the optimum conditions for wave and tidal developers to pioneer the commercial generation of clean, green energy from our seas and oceans.
"This latest funding round follows the success of our earlier WATERS support to help developers bring their devices to full-scale testing. In addition, we have also announced an £18 million fund for those companies now the verge of commercial deployment, to develop their prototype devices and forge ahead with the development of commercially viable arrays."
Alex Paterson, chief executive of Highlands and Islands Enterprise said: "The Highlands and Islands are already leading the world in marine energy development. We have seen the deployment of a growing number of innovative wave and tidal devices at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney. The announcement of WATERS 2 today will enable developers to further their research and development towards the deployment of arrays, particularly in the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters."
(GK)
