Achieving greater industry collaboration will be a key objective for a new body that is being created to encourage innovation in wave energy technology, Energy Minister Fergus Ewing confirmed yesterday.
Wave Energy Scotland (WES) will foster industry collaboration that will drive research and development, share learning and knowledge and bring in expertise from other industry sectors such as oil and gas.
The Minister also revealed that WES will seek to retain intellectual property rights from device development in Scotland to benefit the Scottish wave industry.
The new body is expected to be a subsidiary of Highlands and Islands Enterprise and will bring together the industry’s best engineering and academic minds to accelerate the development of wave energy technologies.
Fergus Ewing said:
“Establishing and funding Wave Energy Scotland underpins Scottish ministers’ support for the wave and tidal sectors.
“In recognition of the changing market conditions the sector is experiencing, this is a new approach to supporting the sector that will encourage knowledge sharing between developers and fosters greater standardisation across the industry.
“Wave Energy Scotland’s first task will be to identify the optimal areas for research and development. These areas will be agreed in consultation with a range of stakeholders, including device developers, project developers, supply chain companies, academia and utilities.
“One of the most important challenges for the wave sector is the lack of design convergence. The long-term success for wave energy will depend crucially on deeper collaboration between companies, reduced duplication and jointly addressing common technological challenges.
“The approach will help maintain our position as a global leader in marine energy. It will build on Scotland’s valuable engineering and academic expertise, our existing testing infrastructure and the industry’s monumental achievements to date.”