Wave energy firm Aquamarine Power has received approval for its plans to construct the world's largest commercial wave farm.

Minister granted full consent for a 40MW farm off the north-west coast of Lewis.

Following the announcement, Aquamarine Power said it would begin installing its Oyster devices in the next few years, once a grid infrastructure is put in place. Last week, energy provider SSE said it would no longer be able to commission work on a Western Isles subsea electricity cable before 2017. It had previously been thought that the £705m cable could be laid in 2015 and then 2016. SSE said it had already spent £5m on developing options for the interconnector.

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Last September, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council) granted planning permission for an onshore hydroelectric power plant which will be connected to the Oyster farm.

The project will be carried out by Aquamarine subsidiary Lewis Wave Power Limited.

The company said it ultimately deploy between 40 and 50 Oyster devices along the cost at Lag na Greine, near to Fivepenny Borve.

Aquamarine Power are currently testing their second full scale wave machine, known as the Oyster 800, at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, and are now producing electrical power to the grid.

Chief Executive Martin McAdam described the granting of planning permission for the farm as a "significant milestone" for the company.

He added: "The goal of our industry is to become commercial, and to do this we need two things - reliable technologies and a route to market.

"Our engineers are currently working hard on getting the technology right and we now have a site where we can install our first small farm, with a larger-scale commercial build out in the years ahead."

The announcement was made by the Scottish Government's Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism Fergus Ewing at the All Energy conference in Aberdeen.

(JP/CD)