Daniel Englander

Scot’s $20 Million Ocean Prize A Gimme? April 2, 2008 at 1:24 PM

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond announced a $20 million prize for commercial-scale ocean power projects today at the National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C. The prize is aimed at building Scotland’s ocean power generation capacity by attracting commercially viable technologies to Scottish waters. But how much capacity can $20 million really buy? PelamisWave, a Scottish company, is already at work installing a 4 MW commercial plant at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney at a cost of around $20 million. The EMEC - part commercial plant, part testing center, was established in 2004 to “help the evolution of marine energy devices from the prototype stage into the commercial market place.”

While details for the project were left, it is almost certain the $20 million will go for another Pelamis project. Pelamis is also at work developing a 2.25 MW plant in Portugal, where it received substantial subsidies and promise of a feed-in tariff. Earlier this year Pelamis business development manager Max Carcas criticized the UK for not doing enough to promote ocean power in his home country. Carcas said “it was not our choice where we put the technology, it was the customer’s. The customer has got to get a return which is competitive. The UK talks a good game, but the action to deliver has been lacking.” Salmond’s plan may likely be a response to this criticism.

I tend to agree with Scottish Lib Dem leader Nicol Stephen, who said “Marine renewable technology needs sustained investment, not recycled gimmicks.” Smack down!

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