Scottish energy minister Fergus Ewing has said that political support for marine energy remains strong despite recent setbacks such as the bankruptcy of Aquamarine Power.
Speaking at the 6th International Conference on Ocean Energy, Ewing said the sector was on the verge of “great success” and would deliver jobs and growth for Scotland.
“We believe the blue energy economy can be an engine to drive forward prosperity. If these [marine] projects deliver electricity on a reliable and sufficient quantity it will lead to utilities entering into contracts – that is the possible means to bring in more investment into the sector,” he said.
Ewing said casualties such as Aquamarine and Pelamis Wave Power were not surprising given the challenging nature of developing marine technology.
“We are under no illusions that the journey from concept to commercialisation is a long journey that would test Marco Polo, but we are increasingly confident we will arrive at the destination at the end of the journey,” he said.
Ewing said the past two years had been “turbulent” but Scotland now has a better understanding of “what works and what doesn’t work”.
Image: Fergus Ewing (reNEWS)
Ewing committed to marine energy
Aquamarine and Pelamis setbacks fail to knock political support
By EBS