Scotland’s renewable energy industry
In Scotland you are never more than 70kms from the sea, and her spectacular waters have long been a source of inspiration for writers, painters and filmmakers. More recently, however, the world’s scientific community has increasingly been looking to Scotland’s coastline for the answers to the world’s energy crisis.
Perhaps this is not so surprising when we consider Scotland’s geographical position at the end of the long Atlantic Ocean ‘fetch’; a situation that produces uniquely energetic waves. Indeed, with 790 islands and nearly 12,000 kilometres of coastline (more than the entire Eastern seaboard of the USA!), Scotland has the potential to harness over 70% of the UK’s tidal power: around 13 billion kilowatts per annum! The Pentland Firth, for instance, has been called the "Saudi Arabia of tidal power...".
It is a potential that the Scottish Government has not been slow to recognise. Earlier this year, Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond, announced the creation of The Saltire Prize: one of the biggest international innovation prizes in history – a £10 million challenge prize for advances in clean energy.
Scotland at the forefront of renewable energy
This is a field in which Scotland is poised to become a world leader. Clean, renewable energy – and particularly marine energy – is an area that the Scots have long been at the forefront. The country’s first experiments with hydroelectric power were conducted as long ago as the late 19th century, and the post war years saw huge advances in this area. As long ago as 1974 Professor Steven Salter and his team at the University of Edinburgh were working on a vision of sustainable marine energy that could meet all of Scotland’s power needs.
Of course the mid-late 70s flood of North Sea oil and gas put this kind of research on the back burner for a considerable time. Today, as we come increasingly to realise that the world’s oil and gas reserves are finite, the kind of work pioneered in Scotland by Professor Salter’s team is back at the top of the political and scientific agenda. Some of the facts are startling:
- Scotland has more than enough raw energy from wave, tidal and offshore winds to meet its own needs many times over and could become Europe’s leading supplier of sustainable energy.
- The Scottish Government has set a target for Scotland to produce 50% of her electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
- Scotland is also targeting to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050: some of the most ambitious targets in the world.
- The European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney is the only grid connected wave and tidal energy research facility in the world. To date, it has received over £15 million worth of investment, much of it from the Scottish Government.
- Scotland has also pledged a further £13 million in grants to wave and tidal energy companies for the future.
- Scotland’s renewable resources include 25% of Europe's wind power, 25% of its tidal power and 10% of its wave power.
Ambitious production targets
With 16 per cent of her use of electricity currently being generated from renewable sources, Scotland is already taking great advantage of alternative energy. The fast-growing wind, wave, tidal and biomass industries offer many exciting opportunities and Scotland is setting ambitious production targets. To help meet these targets, considerable investment is being committed and many businesses and universities in Scotland are carrying out cutting edge studies: The University of Strathclyde, Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Edinburgh University and the International Centre for Island Technology (Heriot-Watt University) on Orkney are all world leaders in sustainable energy research.
Scotland also has an ever-growing number of companies operating in the marine energy sector. These include:
- Pelamis Wave Power
- AWS Ocean Energy
- Wavegen
- Hammerfest Strom UK
- Aquamarine Power
- Scotrenewables Ltd
- Firth Tidal Energy
- SSE Airtrcity
- ScottishPower Renewables
And Scotland’s waters look set to be a hive of activity for the next few decades as these companies undertake some spectacular marine energy projects, including the world's biggest wave power farm. To be built off the coast of Orkney and set to start operating in 2009, the £10m scheme will be the first commercial wave farm in the UK.
Meanwhile ScottishPower is also planning to build the largest tidal-powered energy farm in the world. The energy company is looking to build up to 60 underwater turbines at two sites in Scotland, in the Pentland Firth and the Sound of Islay, with a third off the coast of Northern Ireland. The technology could generate a total of 60 megawatts of power for 40,000 homes by 2011.
Of course, from the steam age through the development of engineering, science and technology, Scotland has always had a tradition of being at the forefront of innovation and design. So it’s no surprise that, with the world facing ever more daunting energy challenges, that the Scots are at the cutting edge. With the continued support of the Scottish Government, ideal environmental conditions, and strong links between universities and private companies, the renewable energy sector is another field in which Scotland’s prominence seems assured.
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