Andrew Sloane, senior investment manager at Scottish Enterprise, said: “This is an exciting investment for Scottish Enterprise, not only because the company is at the vanguard of wave power technology, but also because it marks our first venture with new investment partner Kenda Capital.”

AWS Ocean Energy is presently undertaking component and sub-system testing and qualification and is aiming to deploy a full-system prototype AWS-III during 2011.

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The plant will process between 750,000 and one million tonnes of biomass material a year in order to generate up to 200 megawatts of electricity. The project is one of four biomass power stations planned by Forth Energy (also Dundee, Rosyth & Grangemouth), that will potentially generate up to 5000MW of electricity.

Charles Hammond, chief executive of Forth Port is cited as saying “These proposals not only will create jobs and economic prosperity to support a vibrant local community, but they have been carefully developed to complement our long-term regeneration plans at the harbour.”

Technip currently employs around 900 people in Aberdeen and confirmed yesterday in a meeting with Mr Salmond and Senior Executives that it would indeed be basing its North Sea renewable operations to Aberdeen. Scotland’s First Minister described the decision as “a huge vote of confidence in Scotland’s position as a global leader in renewables innovation, and underlines the massive wealth of human capital and engineering knowledge in the North-east”.

Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce chief executive, Bob Collier, said: “We must continue to look for opportunities to diversify our economy in order to provide a secure economic future for the region. Developing a global renewables industry in the region is a natural extension of current strengths and an achievable goal.”

Technip chairman, Thierry Pilenko, said: “The group’s operating centre in Aberdeen will be able to capitalise on its expertise in offshore operations, fleet management and project execution to tackle the challenges of the renewable energy industry and succeed in its new assignment.”

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The announcement is expected to arise from Salmond’s visit to Paris to discuss potential “unprecedented” investment opportunities in Scotland with French Energy Executives. The Firswt Minister hopes to hold “roundtable discussions” with firms working in tidal and wave renewables, including the French energy giant EDF, Total and Veolia.

Mr Salmond said he would be meeting the “key figures from the leading companies in France’s energy sector” in pursuance of his policy “to harness clean, green energy and meet our climate change targets that are the toughest in the industrialised world”.

The First Minister highlighted the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney as “the world’s only accredited test facility for wave and tidal energy devices” and the £10m Saltire Prize for the development of a commercially viable device generating renewable wave or tidal energy for two years.

Salmond said: “With such abundant natural resources, we must continue to collaborate with international energy companies to ensure Scotland’s opportunity becomes the world’s opportunity and that we continue to work with other nations to meet the global challenge of climate change.”

We hope that the Salmond secures the potential investment, enabling Scotland to take another step towards its vision as the “Powerhouse of Europe”.

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Biomass Solutions Ltd, part of Perpetual Energy UK, is urging all interested parties to submit their applications for the third stage of the scheme.  Biomass Solutions is currently offering a free help service for farmers, small to medium sized businesses and public sector departments.

Bruce Laird, Director of Biomass Solutions, said: “We can complete all the relevant application forms on behalf of organisations to help finance Biomass projects. Our aim is to help businesses to reduce their carbon emission and save on their energy bills by installing low carbon technologies. In essence, we can make energy simple for businesses. It doesn’t have to be a headache.”

Biomass Solutions can be contacted here.

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The project was helped, in part, by Holyrood’s recent of approval of the highly controversial £350m Beauly – Denny Transmission Upgrade.  Following the announcement, BT’s energy and carbon director Richard Tarboton, said: “The decision for an upgraded transmission link gives BT the confidence to now start to seriously invest more time and effort to look for appropriate sites in Scotland.”

Given BT’s sheer size and its commitment to this project, along with the bold claim that a quarter of BT’s total energy usage will be supplied by owned on-shore wind turbines certainly gives encouragement that large corporations are starting to see the tangible benefits by investing in renewable energy generation.

BT’s announcement comes a mere matter of days following AG Barr’s decision to £250m wind turbine due to be constructed at its Irn-Bru factory.

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The company will now produce both onshore and offshore wind turbine towers, which will enable Welcon Towers to compete for supply to the offshore market, especially for major fields off the west coast of Scotland.  Recruitment has already started for the new factory and brings positive news for the job seekers in Scotland.  Skykon expects the plant to be employing around 300 staff by 2012.

Scottish Cabinet Secretary, John Swinney, commenting on the issue, said “(it was) a great day for the Scottish renewables industry.  The extended factory will create skilled jobs and help Scotland capture the benefits of the onshore, and now offshore, wind industry. With the Crown Estate’s recent go-ahead for multi-billion pound investment in offshore wind, this facility will be a first class asset for us in the global renewables market.”

The extension to the old Vestas factory was facilitated by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).  Area manager for Argyll and Islands, Douglas Cowan, said: “This extension will lead to larger turbine towers being manufactured here in Argyll ready to supply markets across the UK and Europe.  The Highlands and Islands as a whole are the key to Scotland’s renewable energy potential and we are strong supporters of Skykon, their place in our community and their importance to the wider Scottish economy.”

Skykon is investing around £14m in the first phase of the project with an additional £5m invested by HIE on general site preparation.  Today, the vision of a Renewable Scotland comes one step closer to reality.

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AG Barr’s Chief executive Roger White said: “We have gone through a lot of loops and hoops and trials and tribulations on the planning front but we finally got it.  It is a lot of money and the return on investment oscillates in terms of what you are paying for your power.  But it is our intention to continue with the project and go ahead with it.  The whole sustainability and environment thing is very important to us – but it is not important to us because it is trendy.  We’ve been a sustainable-focused business for decades when it wasn’t very bankable in terms of its importance.”

Environmental campaigners have extolled the company’s efforts.  Director of WWF Scotland Richard Dixon said: “We all need to think about where our energy comes from and lots of companies are thinking about how efficiently they use energy and where their energy is produced.  With oil prices going up, every company should be thinking how can it become a little more self-sufficient.  Barr have always been an innovative company in terms of their public image – such as their very clever advertising which has paid off for them.  I hope they make some play of this as well. When you are drinking Irn-Bru you can be satisfied that at least a large part of the energy used to make it comes from a renewable source.”

AG Barr has been producing fizzy drinks in Scotland since 1880 and in September reported a twenty per cent increase on year on year pre-tax profits.

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SMart Wind consortium involving Simens Project Ventures (SPV) and Mainstream Renewable Power has been awarded the Hornsea area for the development of a 4GW wind farm in the latest round of the Crown Estate’s offshore wind program.

The Hornsea zone – just off the coast of Yorkshire – is one of nine that will be developed with a total planned installed capacity of 32GW by 2020. SPV and Mainstream Renewable Power will form the project development company, SMart Wind Limited, in which each has a 50% stake. Construction of the first phase is expected to be completed by 2014.

Commenting on the announcement, Mainstream Renewable Power’s chief executive, Dr Eddie O’Connor, said, “Through a combination of innovation and expertise and by working in close collaboration with The Crown Estate, we’re confident that we’ll deliver in record time. This is about delivering a whole new industry for the UK, one that provides sustainable, secure and indigenous power as well as tens of thousands of new jobs throughout the supply chain. This will have a major impact on the long-term economic development of the UK as well as positioning it as the global leader in offshore wind generation. It is our intention to work closely with local communities to ensure that this new industry brings real opportunities for jobs, training and new business”.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said, “Our island has one of the best wind- energy resources in Europe, and today’s news shows we’re creating the right conditions for the energy industry to invest in harnessing it. This is one of the strongest signals yet that the UK is locked irreversibly into a low-carbon, energy-secure prosperous future”.

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We start 2010 with the news that the EEW Group, a German Renewable steel pipe manufacturer based in Erndtebruck, has announced that it plans to create a €20-30bn manufacturing site in Scotland.

The site will be used to produce steel pipes needed for offshore wind farms and although the site’s location has yet to be confirmed, Fife Energy Park is tipped to be a serious contender.  Fife Energy Park, a 54-hectare site offering over 500,000 square metres of industrial space is a joint venture between Scottish Enterprise and Fife Council with Scottish Enterprise and the SDI providing much support for this new investment.  EEW said that although it could not confirm the full details, it may provide 150 new jobs and open in the next twelve months.

A spokesman for Scottish Enterprise/Scottish Development International said, “This is really welcome investment for Scotland and we are keen to continue discussions with the company to identify their plans for the new operation.”

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