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A tidal generation project in north Wales has lost its £10 million of funding from the government due to delays.
The Siemens-owned Marine Current Turbines (MCT) had its £10 million grant allocation from the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) for the 10MW Skerries tidal array cancelled after the project was delayed beyond agreed deadlines.
The development had received the conditional grant as part of Decc’s Marine Energy Array Demonstration (MEAD) fund, which requires projects to start generating electricity by the end of March 2016.
In a statement, MCT said: “While significant progress has been made on the Skerries project, it is not now expected that the project delivery milestones required by the MEAD Fund can be achieved in the necessary timescale.
“MCT remains committed to the Skerries project and will continue to work with Decc and other key stakeholders to deliver the project.”
A Decc spokesperson added: “After careful consideration and discussion with MCT Siemens management, we have taken the prudent decision to retract the funding and use it elsewhere within our innovation programme.
“Tidal energy has considerable potential and the project is a pioneering attempt to accelerate the development of tidal stream energy technology by supporting the deployment of first arrays.
“We understand the company is considering other sources of state funding, and we will offer support towards these efforts where appropriate.”
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