Scotland invites wave and tidal firms to bid for cash

Wave and tidal power developers can now bid for some funding from the Scottish government. The administration today opened an £18 million Marine Renewables Commercialisation Fund (MRCF).

Several marine power developers aim to get the first small scale arrays, around 10MW, in the water and generating power within the next five years. Until 2017 wave and tidal generation looks set to receive 5 renewables obligation certificates (Rocs) per megawatt hour, boosting returns for their output. Some developers are now testing megawatt scale devices but need funds to develop, prove and improve their technology.

Scottish Power Renewables said last week that tests on its grid connected 1MW tidal turbine developed by Hammerfest Strom had gone well. The firm is also testing a wave device from Pelamis. The P2 device (pictured) was installed at the European Marine Energy Centre, Orkney Islands, last weekend.

The MRCF is open for bids for two months. Successful bidders should be announced towards the end of this year. The Scottish Government plans to provide £35 million to the wave and tidal industry over the next three years and there is likely to be further support from the £103 million Renewable Energy Investment Fund. That potentially gives firms developing their technologies in Scotland access to significantly more public funding than is available in the rest of the UK.

The department of energy and climate change has recently made up to £20 million available to wave and tidal developers. The fund replaces the previous £50 million Marine Renewables Deployment Fund which was axed because developers had not been at a stage to meet funding requirements, and it therefore remained unspent. The bidding phase for the new fund is open until 1 June and the money is set to support two array schemes.