Scotland POWERs ahead with European Bid

May 12 2011

Scottish wave project selected as one of twelve UK bids submitted by the UK Government for European funding

A collaborative project bringing together three of Europe's leading utilities and wave energy technologies provided by Aquamarine Power and Pelamis has been selected by the UK Government for a major European funding bid.

The Pentland Orkney Wave Energy Resource (POWER) Ltd project is the only wave energy bid being put forward by the UK Government to the European Investment Bank (EIB) for consideration in the first round of the EU's New Entrant Reserve (NER300) scheme - a fund worth around EUR4.5 billion to support carbon capture and storage (CCS) and innovative renewable projects across the European Union.

The POWER project aims to deliver the world's first large-scale grid-connected demonstration of a wave energy farm with a total generation capacity of 28 MW.

If successful, the project will comprise ten near shore Aquamarine Power Oyster 3 devices and 24 offshore Pelamis machines within the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters leasing area, operating in multi-device array configurations. Both of these technologies are leaders in their field, having been successfully demonstrated at small scale. The project will have a single point of connection to the onshore grid.

The POWER project and bid, which was structured and coordinated by the Scottish European Green Energy Centre (SEGEC), is a collaboration by ScottishPower Renewables (SPR), E.ON Climate & Renewables (E.ON) and Brough Head Wave Farm Limited (BHWFL) - a joint venture between SSE Renewables (SSER) and Aquamarine Power, each of whom have demonstrated an unrivalled commitment to the marine energy sector.

Chris Bronsdon, Chief Executive of SEGEC said: "While still in the early stages of the bid process, it is very exciting to see that the POWER project has progressed through to this next stage. This project represents an innovative and collaborative approach from the outset that will realise not only knowledge sharing and learning but will be a crucial step in the delivery of technology learning for commercial-scale wave energy."

Alan Mortimer, Head of Policy for ScottishPower Renewables said "Wave energy has the potential to play a major role in all our energy futures once the technology itself is ready for large-scale deployment. This project has a pivotal role to play in advancing wave technology such that its potential can be fully realised."

Data and learning captured during the development and operation of the project will be used directly to accelerate the commercialisation of wave energy technology and the development of the industry in Europe.

By providing a final pre-commercial large-scale demonstration of Aquamarine Power nearshore Oyster 3 devices and offshore Pelamis machines within the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters development area, the POWER project would be a significant milestone in the development of the wave energy sector in Europe and worldwide.


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Notes to Editors

NER300 & Process
NER300 is a funding programme of around €4.5 billion to co-fund up to 8 Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) projects and 34 innovative renewable energy technology projects. It will be funded from the sale of 300 million emission allowances held in the New Entrants Reserve (NER) of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and aims to encourage private sector investors and EU Member States to invest in commercial demonstration projects. Up to 3 projects may be funded in each Member State.
For more information visit http://ec.europa.eu/clima/funding/ner300/index_en.htm#part_1.
 
12 UK applications were submitted by the UK Government to the EIB ahead of the 9 May deadline - seven are for CCS projects and five for innovative renewable energy projects. The EIB will now spend the next nine months performing 'due diligence' on the applications, after which the European Commission will verify the eligibility criteria assessment and re-confirm with member states the public funding contribution for recommended projects, before making its award decisions.

Scottish European Green Energy Centre (SEGEC)
SEGEC's principal remit is to facilitate innovative, collaborative, low-carbon, infrastructure projects which deliver real benefits for Scotland, the UK and Europe. SEGEC works to secure investments from a range of public grants and private sector funds, including EU funding streams that have been allocated to support market and technology development.  Working with collaborative partners, SEGEC maximises the potential to contribute to the European Energy and Emissions targets for 2020 and beyond.

Established in 2009, SEGEC has delivered over €110M of EU funding for low-carbon energy projects. An independent, not-for-profit organisation, SEGEC is supported by the Scottish Government, ERDF, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, ScottishPower and SSE.
www.segec.org.uk

ScottishPower Renewables (SPR)
ScottishPower Renewables is part of Iberdrola, the largest wind energy company in the world with an installed capacity of more than 12,000 MW at the end of 2010, and a pipeline of over 60,000 MW.
ScottishPower Renewables had around 930 MW of installed capacity at the end of 2010, and a pipeline of more than 7,400 MW. Iberdrola has a presence in 23 countries around the world.

E.ON Climate & Renewables UK developments Ltd (EON) 
• E.ON is one of the world's leading power and gas companies. With annual sales of more than €92 billion and around 85,000 employees, it is one of the world's largest investor-owned power and gas companies.  E.ON Climate & Renewables, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, is responsible for E.ON Group's global renewables and climate protection activities. E.ON is investing 2.6 billion Euros in renewable generation and climate protection projects from 2011 to 2013 and will play a leading role in the development of the renewables industry worldwide.
E.ON in the UK
• E.ON is one of the UK's leading power and gas companies - generating electricity, and retailing power and gas - and is part of the E.ON group, one of the world's largest investor-owned power and gas companies. We employ around 12,000 people in the UK and more than 85,000 worldwide;
• We recently launched our first wave power generator, which is the first in UK waters and which is capable of generating 750kW of renewable energy;

Brough Head Wave Farm Limited (BHWFL)
Brough Head Wave Farm Limited (BHWFL) is a joint venture between SSE Renewables Holdings (SSER) and Aquamarine Power Limited (APL). APL is a leading wave energy technology and project developer. SSER is a wholly owned subsidiary of SSE with responsibility for the development and construction of renewable energy projects in Europe.
www.aquamarinepower.com

Contacts:
For Aquamarine Power queries, please contact: Neil Davidson, Public Affairs Manager
Phone: +44 (0) 131 524 1449
Email: neil.davidson@aquamarinepower.com

For SEGEC queries please contact: Eleanor Jones, Marketing & Communications Manager
Phone: +44 (0) 1224 489 983
Email: ellie.jones@segec.org.uk  

For E.ON Climate & Renewables UK developments Ltd (EON) queries please contact: Rebecca Mara
Press officer
Phone: +44 (0) 2476 183679
Email: Rebecca.mara@eon-uk.com

For ScottishPower Renewables (SPR) queries please contact: Alan Mortimer, Head of Policy
Phone: +44 (0) 141 568 4421
Email: Alan.Mortimer@ScottishPower.com