- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 5 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of offshore wind developments being planned for Scottish territorial waters and, if none, what the reasons are for its position on this matter, in light of the SEA being conducted for other UK territorial waters.
Answer
The Scottish Government announced its plans for a strategic environmental assessment of Scottish territorial waters for offshore wind energy on 29 October 2008. This is currently being commissioned.
Further details are included in a Scottish Government news release of 29 October 2008, available at http://sh45inta/News/Releases/2008/10/29112030.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 5 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake to carry out a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of planned offshore wind developments as a matter of priority, in light of the increasing demand for such developments and concern that the absence of strategic guidance, which an SEA would provide, could disadvantage developers wishing to pursue sites in Scottish waters.
Answer
A strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of Scottish territorial waters is currently being commissioned, and the rest of the renewable energy zone is the subject of an SEA being carried out in cooperation with the UK Government''s Department of Energy and Climate Change.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 5 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that information that might be available to it through a strategic environmental assessment is taken into account when determining offshore wind farm applications in Scottish territorial waters.
Answer
We expect that any application for an offshore wind farm will require an environmental impact assessment (EIA). The EIA should be informed by relevant plans, programmes and strategies for which a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) has been undertaken. In this way the information available through the SEA will be material to the determination of the application.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 October 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 4 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis it has made of the impact of the research and development funding schemes for marine energy recently established in Ireland and the United States of America on the likelihood of tidal and wave technology companies locating in Scotland
Answer
We believe that the availability of support for marine energy in other countries, as well as in Scotland, is a positive development. Additional support for these technologies across the world will create tremendous opportunities for companies to export their devices from Scotland - as some are already doing.
We believe that the combination of the huge potential resource in Scotland and the incentives we are providing will continue to attract considerable research, development and operational activity to Scotland.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 October 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 3 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs it considers could be created in Scotland by tidal and wave energy technology and manufacturing companies and whether those estimates have been revised since the Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland’s Marine Energy Group Report of 2004.
Answer
The Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland (FREDS) Marine Energy Group forecast in 2004 that by 2020 the marine energy sector could create and sustain 7,000 direct jobs in Scotland.
FREDS has agreed recently that its Marine Energy Group should be reconvened for an updated examination of the sector''s progress and requirements. This will happen shortly, and we expect that employment potential will form part of the group''s work.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 October 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 3 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what lessons it believes should be drawn from the economic benefits that Denmark has gained from being the world-leading wind power technology location for over three decades and how these should be applied to the marine energy industry in Scotland.
Answer
We believe that there are clear parallels to be drawn between the early support for research and development of wind power in Denmark, and the subsequent success of Danish companies within that sector, and the development of the marine energy industry in Scotland. That is why we believe that the support which we are continuing to administer towards marine energy research and development projects, and our continued support for the European Marine Energy Centre, are vital to the establishment of Scotland as the global capital for wave and tidal energy.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 October 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 3 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether marine energy research and development funding has been discussed by the Cabinet since May 2007.
Answer
By long-standing convention, and in accordance with long-established practice across UK governments, in order to protect the confidentiality of the proceedings of the Cabinet, information on Cabinet deliberations is not disclosed.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 October 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 3 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any research and development funding schemes established in other countries that are available to Scottish marine energy companies and, if so, what it considers the impact of such schemes will be on Scottish marine energy companies.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware that other countries have established support schemes for marine energy. This reflects the scale of the global opportunity, which is estimated to run into billions of pounds. Scottish marine energy companies can receive positive benefits from such schemes. For example, Pelamis Wave Power has been able to deploy Scottish-built devices off the Portuguese coast. We believe that these opportunities will continue in future to benefit a wave and tidal sector in Scotland, built and based here on the strength of our resource, manufacturing capability and the support available from the Scottish Government.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 October 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 3 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis it has made of the research and development funding schemes for marine energy recently established in Ireland and the United States of America.
Answer
We are aware of the marine energy support schemes being established in other parts of the world. The Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland (FREDS) has agreed that its Marine Energy Group should be reconvened. This will happen shortly, and we expect that that an assessment of these schemes will form part of the group''s work.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 October 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 3 November 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis it has made of the success of the Wave and Tidal Energy Support Scheme in encouraging marine energy technology companies to locate or remain in Scotland
Answer
The Wave and Tidal Energy Support Scheme has clearly strengthened the position of marine energy companies based in and operating from Scotland, such as Wavegen and Aquamarine Power.
Meanwhile, the support available under the scheme, and the wider support established under the Renewables Obligation (Scotland), has encouraged other marine energy companies to establish themselves in Scotland, such as Tocardo Tidal Energy, which has its headquarters in Caithness.
