Scotland's marine energy sector is set to benefit from £4.8m of funding.

Energy Minister Fergus Ewing is expected to officially unveil the schemes at the RenewableUK Wave and Tidal Conference and Exhibition which will be held in Belfast on Wednesday.

Speaking ahead of the event, Minister Ewing said five of Scotland's marine energy innovation projects would benefit from a £2.8m share of the Marine Renewables Commercialisation Fund (MRCF), while tidal power company Atlantis Resources Corporation is to receive a £2m investment from the £103m Renewable Energy Investment Fund (REIF) which will assist in creating a global engineering hub in Edinburgh.

The Atlantis hub will become the firm's global centre of excellence and will create around 20 new high value jobs once fully operational.

In a statement, the Scottish Government said the MRCF grant funding is vital to facilitating the success of the first wave and tidal arrays in Scotland, while also reducing the cost and risk of the technology. The funding will help build Scotland's marine energy industry and bring important socio-economic benefits to remote and coastal areas of Scotland.

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Initiatives benefiting from the MRCF funding include:

• Construction firm McLauglin & Harvey, along with SeaRoc and Nautricity to fund the foundation system which will be used for Nautricity's 500 kilowatt turbine off the Mull of Kintyre.

• The European Marine Energy Centre to design and build a seabed monitoring pod.

• Marine energy company Green Theme to develop a cable-mounted device called 'CableFish' that includes a camera and GPS to helps with cable installation in fast flowing conditions.

• Marine data experts Partrac, along with partners, to carry out surveys at two Scottish sites to understand turbulence in tidal flows.

• Design and engineering company Tension Technology International and partners to design a novel mooring system that can be used for wave and tidal arrays.

Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said: "Scotland is at the forefront of developing offshore and low carbon energy generation technology with some of the world's greatest wind, wave and tidal resources heavily concentrated in the waters around our country.

"Today's allocation of almost £5 million in MRCF and REIF funding highlights our commitment to supporting the growth of the marine energy sector in Scotland.

"Our ambition for Scotland's emerging wave and tidal sector remains great. We know that the successful harnessing of ocean power takes hard work and persistence and the Scottish Government is determined to support those within the industry."

(JP/MH)