At the biggest gathering of its kind in the world, RenewableUK’s wave and tidal energy conference, Ministers from Scotland and Northern Ireland have re-affirmed their commitment to developing the UK’s massive marine energy resources to their full potential – and there’s been a major announcement on new funding.
The Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing told the conference that Scotland’s marine energy sector is to benefit from an injection of funding worth nearly £5 million, saying: “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. The funding announced today will help facilitate some of the country’s most innovative and exciting marine energy projects and I am delighted we are able to assist these companies.”
Northern Ireland Assembly Member Alastair Ross – Assembly Private Secretary to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister Arlene Foster – read a statement to delegates by Ms Foster in which she declared: “The renewables sector is of vital importance to the economy, to the environment and to the security of our long term energy needs. There are significant business opportunities across the wider energy sector and my department has been working to match those opportunities with the specific strengths of our local businesses. We have around 230 companies active in this sector.”
Welcoming these keynote speeches, RenewableUK’s Chief Executive, Maria McCaffery , said: “Ministers from Scotland and Northern Ireland have made firm commitments to continue to develop the UK’s bountiful wave and tidal energy resources, to harness some of our strongest natural resources to generate clean electricity. The funding announced today shows that there is strong commitment at Ministerial level to ensuring that the UK continues to lead the world at the cutting edge of marine technology. We already have more wave and tidal energy devices installed than the rest of the world put together. If we continue down this path, we can continue to create thousands of high-quality jobs in the dynamic marine energy sector.”
Press release, February 27, 2014; Image: thecrownestate