News

Potential Of Pentland Firth Unlocked: The Crown Estate Announces Procedure For First UK Commercial Marine Power Site

29 September 2008

The Crown Estate today (Monday 29 September, 2008) outlined the application and consent procedure for wave and tidal energy projects in the Pentland Firth - the first UK marine power site to be opened up for commercial-scale development - with the aim of generating more than 700MW of energy by 2020. The announcement comes as First Minister Alex Salmond makes the keynote address at the Caithness Regeneration Conference in Thurso.

The process of granting options for lease over areas of seabed in the Pentland Firth and surrounding area will be concluded in the summer of 2009, with initial devices being deployed as early as 2010/2011. The Crown Estate will look closely to see what local community benefits each developer can incorporate into their scheme and all commercial development will be subject to a comprehensive environmental impact assessment.

Rob Hastings, Director of the Marine Estate at The Crown Estate, said, “Unlocking the potential in the Pentland Firth is crucial to meeting Scottish Government renewable energy targets, stimulating the north Scotland economy and boosting the fledgling renewables industry.
“The Crown Estate is keen to play a central role in generating confidence in the investor community - the process we are announcing today is an important step towards achieving just that.

“As well as the economic opportunities for energy production here, the area could become a world class centre of excellence in wave and tidal power development, research, testing and environmental monitoring.”

First Minister Alex Salmond said:

“Scotland is blessed with a huge natural potential - our wind resources, our forestry for sustainable biomass energy and our vast seas giving us energy from wave and tide. Our seas alone could provide 25 per cent of Europe’s tidal power and 10 per cent of wave power.

“The potential of the Pentland Firth is quite staggering and The Crown Estate will play a crucial part in enabling developers to take the next step and turn tested, reliable technology into the next wave of generating stations, pumping out electricity for homes and business. A strong marine renewables sector will drive further investment, cut emissions and give us a new contribution to sustainable economic growth. The Crown Estate is to be congratulated for playing its part in making Scotland the green energy capital of Europe.”

The Pentland Firth and surrounding area contains six of the top ten best sites in the UK for tidal power development. While the main focus is on tidal power the area is also attractive to wave power developers. It already contains the European Marine Energy Centre, the first test centre for wave and tidal technology anywhere in the world.

Today’s announcement is a result of work by the Pentland Firth Tidal Energy Project which works to develop the marine energy industry. The project partners are The Crown Estate, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), Highland Council, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and the Scottish Government.

The process will take into account the wide range of stakeholder interests including international shipping routes, ferry traffic, fishing, defence, environment and ecology. All commercial development will be subject to a comprehensive environmental impact assessment process, and developers will have to show that their proposed development will not have any significant adverse impact in the development and surrounding areas. The initial devices to be installed are expected to be full size demonstration devices.
ends

A map of the potential area of development is available on request.
For further information contact Emma Beeby, Pagoda PR, on 0131 556 0770, emma.beeby@pagodapr.com  

Notes to Editors

The Crown Estate
The Crown Estate is valued at over £7 billion, including substantial blocks of urban property, over 120,000 hectares (300,000 acres) of agricultural land in England, Scotland and Wales, and around half the foreshore, together with the seabed out to the 12 mile territorial limit

The Crown Estate has two main objectives: to benefit the taxpayer by paying the revenue surplus earned from assets directly to the Treasury (in 2007/08 this amounted to £211.4 million); and to enhance the value of the estate and the income it generates
As owners, managers and guardians of one of the world’s most important and diverse urban, rural and marine property portfolios, our work is underpinned by the three core values of commercialism, integrity and stewardship

The Crown Estate in Scotland:
Reported a turnover of around £13.9m in 2007/8
Generated a revenue surplus of £10.3m in 2007/8, paid directly to the Treasury for the benefit of all UK taxpayers
Reported a capital value of £237m in 2007/8
Direct and indirect investment in Scotland totalled £216.4m in 2007/8

The timetable is as follows:
Mid November to mid December 2008 – registration of expressions of interest
January 2009 – application packs sent out
April 2009 – deadline for applications
Summer 2009 - pre-qualification assessment and site allocation followed by granting of agreements for lease (options)
2010/2011 – anticipated deployment of first demonstration devices in the Firth

The Pentland Firth Tidal Energy Project was established in 2007. The project partners are The Crown Estate, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), Highland Council, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and the Scottish Government. The project vision is to support the development of a globally important marine energy industry in the area to benefit the local and national economies in a sustainable and environmentally aware way.

The Crown Estate has a key role in Scotland’s energy future. It owns almost all of the seabed out to 12 nautical miles, and has rights on energy development out to 200 nautical miles with responsibility for providing site options and leases for consented offshore wind, wave and tidal projects around Scotland and the rest of the UK.

The Crown Estate is already working with both the Scottish Government and UK Government on projects that have the potential to deliver significant energy supply, such as Round 3 of offshore wind (intended to deliver 25GW of energy for the UK) and Scottish offshore wind which could deliver further energy from Scottish territorial waters by 2012.

The Crown Estate is also working to support the commercialisation of marine technologies in Scotland and investing in research on the essential improvements to access to the transmission network that will be needed to ensure renewable energy targets are met. This includes a report launched in January this year on the feasibility of an east coast sub-sea interconnector, see
http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/newscontent/92-connectivity-offshore-power-transmission-2.htm .