The grants from the WATERS fund will help develop emerging energy technologies and improve the operation of marine renewables devices.
WATERS is a collaboration between the Scottish government, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise with support from European Regional Development Funds.
RWE npower Renewables will get GBP6m to support construction of its 10-turbine, 4MW Siadar project off the coast of the Western Isles. A grant of GBP3.5m will be given to Aquamarine Power for its Oyster 3 project at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney. OpenHydro will get GBP1.85m to support a power conversion and control system.
AWS Ocean Energy will get GBP1.39m to support tests in Loch Ness and the Cromarty Firth of its wave energy converter, sections of which will join together to form the device’s doughnut shape. Ocean Flow Energy will get GBP560,000 to build and deploy the Evopod, a 35kW floating grid connected tidal energy turbine at Sanda Sound in South Kintyre.
Jim Mather, minister of enterprise, energy and tourism, Scotland, said: “Our seas have unrivalled potential to generate clean, green energy and bring jobs, investment and know how to Scotland. We have a quarter of Europe’s potential tidal energy resource and a tenth of the wave capacity – a resource already drawing developers and innovators to Scotland’s seas as we have seen with planned activity in the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters.
“This funding is another step on the road to a low carbon Scotland that maximizes its resources for a sustainable future.”
