The Minister of State for Energy & Climate Change, Greg Barker MP, visited Pelamis Wave Power today to tour the design and production facilities and see the second Pelamis P2 machine being built for utility customer ScottishPower Renewables. The machine, currently undergoing final assembly and commissioning at the quayside in Leith Docks, is due to be tested alongside the first P2 machine owned by German utility giant E.ON, which was first grid connected in October 2010 at the European Marine Energy Centre, Orkney.
Greg Barker MP discusses the recent DECC announcement with founder and CTO of Pelamis Wave Power, Richard Yemm, at the quayside of Leith Docks.
An announcement from the Department of Energy and Climate Change today revealed that up to £20 million of DECC’s £200 million budget for low carbon technologies has been earmarked for the UK’s wave and tidal industry. Subject to a value for money assessment, the £20 million is expected to support two projects to test marine power technologies in multiple-machine arrays.
Greg Barker said:
“Marine power has huge potential in the UK not just in contributing to a greener electricity supply and cutting emissions, but in supporting thousands of jobs in a sector worth a potential £15 billion to the economy to 2050.
“Britain can be a world leader as we have decades of expertise in offshore industries and the most advanced devices are already being developed here. Our geography gives us access to rich marine resources which act as a natural laboratory to test and run devices in realistic conditions, especially in Scotland and the South West where innovative work is already being carried out.
“The money we’re announcing today will take marine power to the next stage of development in the UK and a step closer to being a real contender in the future energy market.”