Scottish Enterprise (SE), an executive Non-Departmental Public Body of the Scottish Government, has published its annual results, which show that GPB 16.3 million has been written off in relation to wave energy company Pelamis Wave Power.
“Our ambitions in relation to Wave Energy were adversely affected by the difficulties experienced by two of Scotland’s key companies, Pelamis and Aquamarine. The focus has now shifted to Wave Energy Scotland to address a range of technology priorities,” said Scottish Enterprise, which also invested GBP 5.4 million in Aquamarine Power.
On offshore wind, 2014/15 has proved to be very challenging to attract full-scale turbine manufacturing. Scottish Enterprise’s immediate focus is promoting Scotland as the best location in the UK for turbine-blade manufacturing. The difficult investment market conditions have also affected our strategy to attract significant investment in infrastructure in key Scottish port sites.
An ambitious milestone set on the progress of major infrastructure investments, demonstration projects and supply chain developments in the offshore renewables sector was not achieved due to the difficulties that the sector faced in global markets, Scottish Enterprise explained.
However there were some signs of progress in relation to renewable energy.
We levered £65m of investment through the Renewable Energy Investment Fund (REIF), including a significant investment in the tidal sector, and we are also seeing progress in relation to the International Technology & Renewable Energy Zone (ITREZ) in Glasgow which has attracted significant commercial interest.
Offshorew WIND Staff; Image: Pelamis Wave Power