Scottish energy projects from Islay to the Pentland Firth chase £3.9bn EIB funding

SEVEN Scottish projects are among a dozen UK energy schemes in the running for €4.5 billion (£3.9bn) of funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB), it was revealed yesterday.

The UK government's Department for Energy and Climate Change put forward seven carbon-capture and storage (CCS) projects and five renewable energy schemes for cash from the European Union's new entrant reserve programme.

The EIB will now spend the next nine months selecting up to three projects that will receive financial backing.

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The three Scottish CCS projects that have been nominated are: Peel Energy's proposed Hunterston station in Ayrshire; Scottish & Southern Energy's gas-fired power station at Peterhead; and ScottishPower's coal-powered station at Longannet in Clackmannanshire.

Four out of the five renewable energy projects put forward by the coalition government will take place north of the Border.

ScottishPower Renewables will deploy Hammerfest Strom tidal turbines in the Sound of Islay, while the Kyle Rhea Tidal Turbine Array will use Marine Current Turbines "SeaGen" devices off the coast of Islay.

Two schemes in the Pentland Firth - between the north coast of the Scottish mainland and the Orkney Isles - have also been put forward for funding: the MeyGen Tidal Stream Project, which will deploy Atlantis Resources and Rolls-Royce/Tidal Generation turbines; and the Pentland Orkney Wave Energy Resource (Power) scheme, which brings together Eon and ScottishPower Renewables to test Aquamarine Power's and Pelamis' devices.

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