Engineering news
The Scottish government has pledged £14.3 million over the next thirteen months to fund a wave energy research facility for the marine sector.
The new organisation, Wave Energy Scotland, immediately awarded its first contract to a group of 12 former Pelamis employees, led by former chief executive Richard Yemm, to capture the knowledge of the Pelamis wave energy converter for the wider benefit of the marine sector.
Pelamis Wave Power went into administration at the end of last year, due to a shortage of cash. No bidder came forward to take over the company as a going concern, leaving economic development quango Highlands and Islands Enterprise to buy its physical assets and intellectual property.
Scottish government energy minister Fergus Ewing said the £14 million budget for Wave Energy Scotland represented the biggest technology development programme the wave sector has ever seen.
He said: “We have adopted a completely new approach to funding the sector. It is one that will foster collaborative research and development and will encourage technology developers to work with large engineering companies, academics and each other to address shared challenges.”
Alex Paterson, chief executive of Highlands and Islands Enterprise, said: “The Wave Energy Scotland team don’t underestimate the challenges which lie ahead. But this is a chance not to be missed and the team is relishing being able to take a fresh approach to resolving the issues which so often hamper the early stages of the development of innovative technology.”
The marine industry has been hit by a series of body-blows in recent months. In addition to the finance troubles at Pelamis, engineering giant Siemens has confirmed that it wants to divest of its interest in tidal energy firm Marine Current Turbines. And Aquamarine Power, which is developing its Oyster wave energy converter, has been forced to shed staff.
Neil Kermode, director of the European Marine Energy Centre, the wave and tidal test and development facility in Orkney, said the industry had faced a period of “readjustment”, mainly due to the slow pace of technological development.