Scottish Labour and Scottish Co operative Party prospective parliamentary candidate for Orkney Mike Macleod has criticised the Scottish Government’s decision to terminate funding for Wave Energy Scotland.
The announcement comes amid reports that Wave Energy Scotland had requested £3.08 million over two years to continue its work developing wave power technology.
Wave Energy Scotland was established in 2014 by then Energy Minister Fergus Ewing to address technical challenges and harness the potential of wave energy along Scotland’s coastline.
Advocates argue that wave power offers predictable and consistent renewable energy, with potential to create jobs in coastal communities if technical barriers can be overcome.
If funding is not secured, Wave Energy Scotland is expected to make its approximately 12 employees redundant and withdraw from the EuropeWave programme, which is co funded by the Scottish Government, Basque Government and European Commission.
Scotland based Mocean Energy currently has a contract to deploy a prototype in Orkney later this year under the EuropeWave programme.
Concerns have also been raised that withdrawal could result in potential claims from contractors and claw back of European Commission grant funding.
Mr Macleod said:
“This is an incredibly short sighted decision, which will cost jobs in Orkney and elsewhere and could even leave the Scottish Government open to a claim for damages.
“Everyone except the SNP realises, if you don’t plant acorns, you’re never going to get a forest.
“I call on Robert Leslie to petition the First Minister to reverse this decision.”
The funding decision was announced as First Minister John Swinney was due to visit Kirkwall for a Scottish Parliament campaign event.
Wave energy has long been seen as a potential pillar of Scotland’s renewable future, particularly in areas such as Orkney where marine energy testing facilities already operate.
