A new body that is being established to encourage innovation in wave energy technology will help to achieve greater industry collaboration, it has been said.

Energy Minister Fergus Ewing confirmed that Wave Energy Scotland (WES) will foster industry collaboration that will drive research and development, share learning and knowledge, as well as consult expertise from other industry sectors such as oil and gas. WES will also seek to retain intellectual property rights from device development in Scotland to benefit the Scottish wave industry.

It is understood the new organisation will be a subsidiary of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise and will unite the industry's best engineers and academics, to "accelerate the development of wave energy technologies".

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Making the announcement, Minister Ewing said: "Establishing and funding Wave Energy Scotland underpins Scottish ministers' support for the wave and tidal sectors.

"In recognition of the changing market conditions the sector is experiencing, this is a new approach to supporting the sector that will encourage knowledge sharing between developers and fosters greater standardisation across the industry."

He continued: "Wave Energy Scotland's first task will be to identify the optimal areas for research and development. These areas will be agreed in consultation with a range of stakeholders, including device developers, project developers, supply chain companies, academia and utilities.

"One of the most important challenges for the wave sector is the lack of design convergence. The long-term success for wave energy will depend crucially on deeper collaboration between companies, reduced duplication and jointly addressing common technological challenges.

"The approach will help maintain our position as a global leader in marine energy. It will build on Scotland's valuable engineering and academic expertise, our existing testing infrastructure and the industry's monumental achievements to date."

(JP/CD)