EDINBURGH, Scotland, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- A Scottish decision to dole out funds to support marine energy will help accelerate the commercialization of a wave power device, an executive said.
Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing announced Monday the government gave its consent to projects designed for wave and tidal energy. Scotland aims to get all of its electricity through renewable energy resources by 2020.
Ewing's government said Aquamarine Power Ltd. and Pelamis Wave Power will share a $20.7 million marine renewables commercialization fund.
Richard Yemm, the chief executive officer at Pelamis, said the funds for commercialization support 15 years of development experience.
"The awards will allow us to accelerate the design and deployment of an enhanced variant of the Pelamis P2 machines currently under test [at the European Marine Energy Center] in Orkney, Scotland," he said in a statement Monday.
There was no public comment from Aquamarine Power Ltd. It said in April it tested its Oyster 800 system in 25-foot waves, a height reached only in a few locations in the world.
Ewing said Monday marine power has the potential to boost Scotland's renewable energy ambitions. Scottish energy company MeyGen was approved for a pilot project of six 73-foot tidal turbines.
