Question reference: S5O-00087
- Date lodged: 22 June 2016
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Current status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 30 June 2016
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in developing schemes to harness wave and tidal energy.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to provide strong support to developers of schemes to harness wave and tidal energy.
In 2014, we established Wave Energy Scotland (WES), which brings together experts to accelerate wave technology further. With a new budget of £10 million for 2016-17, WES is the biggest technology development programme the wave sector has ever seen, attracting global interest.
We have also invested in first-of-a-kind tidal schemes that will be a catalyst for the global tidal power market. The Scottish public sector’s £23 million investment in phase 1A of the MeyGen tidal array in the Pentland Firth is a clear signal of our belief in this sector.
On top of this, we have provided £1.9 million to help Nova Innovation develop the Shetland Tidal array and £4.2 million to enable Scotrenewables develop the world’s largest floating tidal turbine.