The fund is aimed at supporting tidal energy generation in Scottish waters by driving innovation and reducing the cost of electricity generated.
Scotland’s energy minister Paul Wheelhouse said: “Scotland continues to lead the world in developing and supporting marine energy technology, with the European Marine Energy Centre on Orkney recognised as a global centre of excellence. We believe that tidal energy can not only play an important role in our own future energy system, but it has substantial export potential.
“The industry has taken momentous steps forward in recent years, and we are proud to have supported that, but the path to commercialisation is taking longer, and proving more difficult, than initially expected. The investment climate has been harmed by the UK Government’s decision in 2016 to remove a ring-fenced subsidy for marine energy and by the parallel uncertainties caused by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.”
The new support sits alongside the parallel £30m committed to date by the Scottish government to Wave Energy Scotland (WES) and a further £10m proposed for WES in 2019/20.
Requirements for successful projects include that they must relate to the capital costs of developing a material or technical innovation aimed at reducing the cost of tidal energy; and that they must be deployed in Scottish waters no later than March 2020.
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