Consent for first Oyster wave power array
14 Feb 12 - Martin McAdam, Chief Executive Officer
Today Scotland's Energy Minister Fergus Ewing has given the
green light on Aquamarine Power's plans for the first array of
Oyster devices, by granting full consent to our 2.4 MW
demonstration project in Orkney.
This is great news - it is clear evidence Scotland is not only
leading the way in marine energy technology, but shows that
regulator Marine Scotland is putting in place the timely and
efficient consent and permitting processes which will enable our
industry to grow.
Consents are vital. A clear pathway to all the necessary permits
for marine energy development is one of the critical enablers for a
business such as ours, and countries which lack a transparent and
timely system will fall behind.
We installed the first Oyster 800 device in September, and the
consent means we can now install a further two Oyster wave energy
devices at the same site at the European Marine Energy Centre
(EMEC) in Orkney.
The Oyster 800 array will consist of three 800kW Oyster devices
and will be the UK's first grid-connected nearshore wave power
array.
It paves the way for us to continue working with Marine Scotland
to further streamline the consents process and gain all the
necessary consents for our 200MW commercial wave energy site in
Orkney, and our 40MW site on Lewis.
On making the announcement today, Energy Minster Fergus Ewing
said:
"Scotland has unparalleled natural resources, with a tenth of
Europe's wave power, and these new devices will help us to fully
harness the huge energy resources around our own coast and
contribute to global efforts to expand clean, green electricity
generation.
"Scotland is in the midst of a renewables revolution, and it is
innovation and creativity such as that behind the Oyster device
which will help us meet our ambitious renewable electricity targets
and help us reindustrialise Scotland."
Our application has been granted subject to the implementation
of a suitable environmental monitoring and mitigation plan to
ensure suitable measures are taken to protect the environment. We
look forward to working with the local community in Orkney on the
responsible development of our first Oyster array.
This is a great milestone for our company and for the wave
energy industry as a whole. This marks an important step in
the development of Oyster which one day will be delivering power to
hundreds of thousands of homes.