Salmond to announce race for seabed power

Scotland's first minister Alex Salmond is set to start the race for seabed power on Monday, as he is expected to announce details of leases available for the Scottish seabed.

Scotland's first minister Alex Salmond is set to start the race for seabed power on Monday, as he is expected to announce details of leases available for the Scottish seabed.

Scotland has one of the highest potentials of any country in the world to create energy from wave power, and it was an Edinburgh company that designed and built aspects of the world's first commercial-scale wave power station off the coast of Portugal.

It is likely the details released on Monday will include plans for the regeneration of Caithness and Orkney, which has been described in a report by the Press and Journal as the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy.

Roy Kirk, Caithness and Sutherland area manager of Highlands and Islands Enterprise, told the publication yesterday: "If details of this become clear, it will allow us to move forward significantly faster in terms of bringing investment to the area.

"It would give confidence to developers and investors who have been, understandably, concerned whether or not they would get a lease."

It is thought that renewable energy companies would spend the first five years in a pre-commercial phase to prove the technology before expanding wave power developments into providing green power for Scotland.