Scotland set to feed wave power into the grid

Scotland is pressing ahead with ambitious plans to boost renewable energy production after its first nearshore commercial wave power site got the go-ahead to feed-into the National Grid.


Scottish energy minister Fergus Ewing today (February 14) granted wave energy company Aquamarine Power permission to include two new marine power devices at its commercial wave power site at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), Billia Croo, Orkney.

As part of the project, Aquamarine Power will carry out a 2.4MW demonstration, after adding the new Oyster wave energy convertors to an existing device. The devices will then feed-into the National Grid, and it is anticipated each will have a capacity of 800KW – potentially enough power to supply renewable electricity to more than 1,000 homes.

Mr Ewing said: “Scotland is in the midst of a renewables revolution, and it is innovation and creativity such as that behind the Oyster device which will help us meet our ambitious renewable electricity targets and help us reindustrialise Scotland.”

WWF Scotland head of policy Dr Dan Barlow welcomed the move to feed wave energy into the grid, saying it marks an “exciting step forward towards realising our huge marine energy potential”.

He added: “Alongside energy saving measures, marine renewables will have a critical role to play in helping reduce climate emissions as we phase out polluting fossil fuels and nuclear power.

“With careful planning we can harness Scotland’s wave and tidal energy to help cut our climate emissions, while safeguarding the nation’s tremendous marine environment.”

Carys Matthews

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