Scotsman
23/05/2001
The potential domestic and export
market for wave energy devices is worth up to £1 billion
Western Isles watching how the winds blow
Jim Dow
HOPES are high in the Western Isles
that the area will be designated an energy innovation zone and be
on its way to becoming the alternative energy capital of Europe following
the General Election.
That is the goal it has set during
a vigorous campaign to put across its case. Nigel Scott, communications
officer for the Western Isles Council, states: "We would hope
that by the end of June we will have firm proposals. We think that
the time is right for us - this is a great opportunity.
"This sits comfortably with
our ethos. The Western Isles could be part of the solution of a worldwide
problem - fossil fuels will not last forever."
A recent report by the government’s
science and technology committee concluded that the potential domestic
and export market for wave and tidal energy devices is estimated to
be worth between £0.5-£1 billion. The Western Isles has
seized on this as being exactly the sort of initiative that the area
is well equipped to handle.
The message from the council is that
the real harvest of renewable energy lies out in the north-west Atlantic
with its vast resources of offshore wind, wave and tidal energy, with
the islands the logical base for all aspects of developing the renewable
energy market from research through to maintenance.
The council has been in touch with
senior officials at Holyrood and Westminster promoting the prospect
of an economy-boosting, and economy-sustaining, centre of green energy
excellence off the north west coast of Scotland.
The idea is to attract private finance
to an area traditionally heavily dependent on financial support from
central Government and Europe. An energy innovation zone in the Western
Isles would have the potential to create up to 1,000 jobs and the
zone would have a raft of incentives to promote research, development
and the production in all aspects of renewable energy - including
generation, transmission, storage and use.
The definition of renewable energy
is "energy that occurs naturally and repeatedly in the environment.
Energy which comes from a source that either is not depleted, such
as solar, wave or wind energy, or can be replenished at a rate comparable
with the rate at which it is consumed."
The two most prevalent sources of
renewable energy in the United Kingdom are on-shore wind and hydro
power. But there are other sources far from full development, such
as energy crops, energy from waste, offshore wind, onshore windmills,
landfill gas, wave and solar.
The convener of Western Isles Council,
Alex MacDonald, said the Western Isles are ideally placed to capitalise
on the alternative energy market with its wind, wave and tidal resources
and now was the time to make it a reality.
There was a range of incentives which
could be introduced to make the islands attractive to companies .
Example could be business tax relief for alternative energy projects,
non-domestic rate rebates and national insurance relief for locally-based
staff.
At a local level there would be tax
relief for electric/alternative energy vehicles and tax exemptions
for energy "filling stations".
The council stresses that this is
not a case of the Western Isles asking for subsidies. It believes
that the Western Isles could help provide part of the solution to
many of the world’s climatic problems, being ideally placed to provide
an abundance of alternative energy and to become a centre of excellence
for the new technology at a UK and European Union level.
It states that the advantage for
government in setting up a favourable alternative energy regime in
the islands is that it is a geographically defined area which allows
for the monitoring of tax breaks and the advantage fort the Western
Isles is the spin-off in jobs, estimated to be around 1,000 in an
area where the creation of five jobs is regarded as success.
The council has welcomed statements
by The Prime Minister and Helen Liddell, the Scottish Secretary, which
it believes indicates strong support by Britain for renewable energy.
The Scottish Secretary said the government had already allocated more
than £250 million to encourage renewable energy development
to help Britain achieve the target of ten per cent of electricity
generated by green power by 2010.
Liddell added: "Continuing to
rely on fossil fuels just is not sustainable and now is the time to
make progress in exploiting alternative sources of power. Alternative
energy technology being developed in Scotland can be applied throughout
the world."
Liddell made her comments when she
was in Inverness visiting Wavegen, which has pioneered the development
and manufacture of wave power systems and is a world leader of commercial
wave electrical generation technology.
Wavegen has a 12-strong research
and development team at Inverness and using its in-house wavetank
testing facilities working in conjunction with industrial and academic
partners it has developed products which have established the company
as a world leader in the development of new clean energy technology.
It has just completed a £5
million round of funding which was led by Merrill Lynch Energy Technology
and included further backing from existing shareholders. Allan Thomson,
Wavegen’s managing director, said: "We are pleased that the government
and capital markets now understand the important role this vast untapped
resource will play in the future energy supply mix. Merrill Lynch
has recognised that we have the technology and the team to deliver
that promise."
This comes on the back of an important
development on the island of Islay, where Wavegen has the world’s
first commercial wave power station. It has now successfully fed electricity
into the UK’s national grid and has a 15-year purchase contract with
Scottish & Southern Energy and Scottish Power.
Wavegen regard this as an important
event which has opened the door for wave power to become a contributor
of renewable energy and will assist the UK in meeting obligations
under the Kyoto Protocol by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
According to Thomson: "Wave
power has joined the important group of commercially viable, competitive
and clean forms of sustainable energy; this is the launch of a global
market.
"With modular construction and
simple operation it will fulfil a growing need for coastal communities
all over the world, especially island seeking to replace diesel generation
with clean indigenous power while revitalising maritime industries."
The Islay LIMPET (land installed
marine powered energy transformer) is the first commercial plant of
its kind in the world and Wavegen believes that the knowledge it has
gained from the operation of the Islay plant will allow it to move
forward rapidly towards full commercialisation and general use of
wave power technology.
Wavegen and Queen’s University, Belfast,
jointly developed LIMPET with European Union support. The LIMPET is
rated at 500 kW and is able to provide enough electricity for about
400 local homes.
Two other wave power projects are
under way in Scotland - Ocean Power Delivery is locating two wave
energy converters off the west coast of Islay and hopes to have them
operational by the middle of next year and Sea Power International
will place a floating wave power vessel off the Shetland Islands and
hope to have that operational by October next year.
Tomorrow in Thursday Business: Special Report:
Renewable Energy Part II
