The Saltire Prize - The Scottish Government's £10million challenge for marine renewables
Scottish Energy Minister Jim Mather announced that Scotland’s £10 million Saltire Prize, a challenge to the world to accelerate the commercial development of marine energy, is now open for applications.
The Prize, the largest Government innovation prize in the world, will go to a commercially viable wave or tidal energy technology that generates at least 100 Gigawatts of electricity over two years using only the power of the sea – enough to power 10,000 homes.
Scottish Energy Minister Jim Mather also confirmed today that The Crown Estate, as owners of the seabed around the UK, will run a dedicated leasing round over this summer specifically aimed at Saltire Prize competitors to test their devices in Scottish waters.
Publishing the competition guidelines today at the Scottish Renewables annual conference in Glasgow, Mr Mather said: “I am delighted that the Saltire Prize, Scotland’s challenge to the world to push to the boundaries of marine energy innovation, is now open for applications. The guidelines have been finalised and are published today. We have been working with The Crown Estate and Marine Scotland to enable new opportunities for global competitors and I am pleased at the co-operation in opening a dedicated new sea-bed leasing round. This will be led by The Crown Estate and will be specifically aimed at new projects competing for the Saltire Prize.
Rob Hastings, Director of the marine estate at The Crown Estate said: “Following on the success of the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters announcement, we are delighted to be working with the Scottish Government to identify further areas for wave and tidal project leases in Scottish Waters. We share the Scottish Government’s drive to encourage this emerging industry to maturity and we are looking forward to announcing the start of the leasing round later this year.”
Scotland’s seas can provide 25 per cent of Europe’s tidal power and 10 per cent of its wave power. The Scottish Government and The Crown Estate are seeking views on the suitability of the proposed areas for the dedicated leasing round. The areas are:
Wave – West of Shetland, west of the Western Isles, north of Tiree, west of Colonsay
Tidal – West of Islay, west of Kintyre peninsula
It is very encouraging to see Argyll being given the opportunity to make use of its excellent marine energy potential.
