Wave Energy Scotland has picked AWS Ocean Energy and Mocean Energy to deploy half-scale wave energy machines at the European Marine Energy Centre off Orkney by 2020.
The companies will receive a share of £7.7m from Wave Energy Scotland for the projects.
Wave Energy Scotland said it is anticipated that the deployments will lead to full-scale development in the years ahead.
Mocean’s Blue Horizon system is a floating hinged structure, while AWS has developed a fully-submerged point absorber called Archimedes Waveswing.
The winning designs were selected over a course of four years out of eight original concepts that were then narrowed down to four and finally two.
Wave Energy Scotland managing director Tim Hurst said: “These state-of-the art designs represent the most advanced, and innovative devices in the UK today, and our programme is ensuring that Scotland stays front and centre of the global wave energy story.
“Both devices have already proved their suitability during tank testing and in modelling and the next step is to test them in real-sea conditions.
“This funding will allow both companies to further develop their designs before building and testing the prototypes in Orkney in 2020, where marine engineering expertise is plentiful.
“The European Marine Energy Centre in Stromness will provide the specialist technical support needed to assess the devices’ performance.”
Scottish Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands Paul Wheelhouse said: “With 465,000 square kilometres of seas in Scotland’s Exclusive Economic Zone, Scotland’s capacity to generate wave power is very considerable indeed and wave energy devices represent real game-changers for the industry not only here in Scotland but on a global scale.
“The deployment of these two devices will represent a strategically important milestone for Scotland, demonstrating technical progress that will support identification of the most cost-effective technologies and encouraging private sector investment in this emerging industry.
“With our skilled supply chain and expertise in energy innovation, Scotland is ideally positioned to both support and benefit from the expansion of the marine energy sector domestically and globally.
“I very much look forward to seeing the progress of both devices in the coming months.”