NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR WAVE AND TIDAL DEVELOPMENT IN SCOTLAND

NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR WAVE AND TIDAL DEVELOPMENT IN SCOTLAND22 September 2010The Crown Estate today announced plans to offer further leases for wave and tidal energy projects in Scottish waters, in connection with the Scottish Government’s Saltire Prize. It also announced its approach for companies to apply for demonstration project leases for sites around the UK.In Scotland, companies will be invited to propose projects up to 30 MW capacity through a new competition framework, with a series of six monthly application windows, the first of which will open in October 2010. This will give developers further opportunities to compete for the Saltire Prize, a £10 million incentive offered by the Scottish Government to encourage development of wave and tidal stream energy.Seeing increasing interest in wave and tidal demonstration projects up to 10 MW, The Crown Estate is also updating the application process for demonstration project leases. Companies will be invited to apply through the same competition framework, which will give greater certainty about the process to lease award.Scottish Government’s Energy Minister, Jim Mather, said: “The Saltire Prize is our £10 million challenge to the world to push back the boundaries of marine energy innovation. We already have two confirmed Saltire Prize ...