Tidal wave demo turbine to receive massive payout by European research bodies in bid to aid Scottish industry
EUROPEAN UNION bodies responsible for renewables industry research and funding have given a grant of £20m to the MyGen tidal project in the Pentland Firth.
Atlantis Resources Ltd won the EU grant after revealing the next phase of its project to build a 6 megawatt (MW) turbine set.
The project, called Stroma, will start its construction in the spring of this year and planners expect it to start producing commercially available power by 2018, bucking the trend of cuts to subsidies of renewable projects in Scotland by the UK Government.
“This funding is crucial and a sign of the confidence in the project and Scotland’s natural wealth of renewable power in of itself.” Tim Cornelius
Speaking to CommonSpace about the grant, chief executive officer of Atlantis Resources, Tim Cornelius, said: “Last year we unveiled our plans for the MeyGen project and showed it to be the world’s most high-profile tidal stream.
“This funding is crucial and a sign of the confidence in the project and Scotland’s natural wealth of renewable power in of itself. Of course we are delighted to be working with the EU, European Commission, all the research agencies and this world leading consortium of marine renewable energy experts to ensure that Scotland and Europe remain at the forefront of tidal power knowledge creation.
“This project is the next significant step in delivering cost effective, reliable tidal stream generation for the whole of Europe.“
Cornelius went on to say that he expected by 2020 for Scotland and Europe to see the results of low energy prices as a result of the harnessing of this tidal power to commercial markets.
“We expect Scotland to continue to be the forefront of such investment.” Innosea
MeyGen made headlines last year for being the first company to have a fully commercial and the largest tidal power array in November.
The £20m grant will see Scottish companies working alongside European researchers and companies such as Marine Vessel and construction firms DEME Blue Energy and GeoSea, based in Belgium as well as Innosea, an engineering firm based in France.
A media spokesperson for Innosea Marine Engineering based in France told CommonSpace: “There are exciting things happening in Europe on new marine technologies and development of wind power.
“We expect Scotland to continue to be the forefront of such investment.”
When contacted by CommonSpace, the Department of Business and Energy and Industrial strategy (BEIS) welcomed the growth of “all industries across the UK” however they did not respond to questioning regarding the European Commission origins of the funds.
Picture courtesy of Scottish Government
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