Six schemes to harness energy from Scottish seas

SIX new wave and tidal energy projects off the coast of Scotland have been granted site agreements by the Crown Estate.

The projects include plans for the first commercial wave farm in the Western Isles and the world’s first community-owned tidal power generator in Shetland.

In all, eight new agreements of lease have been announced around the UK, six for sites off Scotland. It takes the total number of wave and tidal projects to get leasing agreements in the UK to 31, of which 23 are in Scotland.

In most cases, the rights awarded are exclusivity agreements for areas of seabed and allow developers to start surveying and designing their renewable energy projects ahead of consulting interested parties and seeking statutory consent.

Energy minister Fergus Ewing said: “Scotland has the potential to lead the world in wave and tidal energy, with a quarter of Europe’s tidal stream and a tenth of its wave-energy potential.

“Today’s announcement further reinforces the growing momentum and appetite for investment in marine renewables and demonstrates the breadth of activity taking place around Scotland’s coast.”

The new wave schemes are planned by Pelamis Wave Power near Bernera, off Lewis, and AWS Ocean Energy in the Moray Firth.Tidal stream projects are proposed in west Islay, by Marine Energy; the Mull of Kintyre, by Nautricity; the Bluemull Sound, between Unst and Yell in Shetland, by Nova Innovation; and in Sanda Sound, off Kintyre, by Oceanflow Development.

The other two agreements are for schemes in Wales and Northern Ireland.

RSPB Scotland welcomed the announcement and said wave and tidal stream power could make a valuable contribution towards meeting renewable energy targets.

However, it said the roll-out of such technologies must be accompanied by the urgent identification of important marine areas for wildlife in order that these sites can be adequately protected from adverse impacts.

The charity said it would assess each individual proposal in detail before it formed an opinion on the suitability or otherwise of each project.

The 10MW Bernera Wave Farm will consist of up to 14 Pelamis machines and be located between 0.6 and six miles from the shore on a 38.6sq mile site off the west coast of Lewis.

It is estimated the waters around the Outer Hebrides could have as much as 20 per cent of Europe’s total wave resource, making the Western Isles one of the best wave resources in the world.

Angus Campbell, leader of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles council), said: “The Outer Hebrides are the jewel in the crown of Scotland’s marine energy resource. As a community, we are committed to encouraging the development of wave power in this area.”

Ros Hart, project development manager for Pelamis, said: “The Western Isles will be home to many of the world’s first wave farms, and this lease is yet another step towards commercialising wave energy in Scotland.”

Oceanflow Development, the Scottish subsidiary of Oceanflow Energy, intends to use a site in Sanda Sound, south Kintyre, for long-term testing of Evopod, its floating, tethered tidal stream technology.

It is now currently undergoing checks by Marine Scotland in order to obtain a licence to start a scaled-down test of what at full scale could be installed in tidal stream sites, such as the Pentland Firth, with each device capable of powering 1,000 homes.