Press Releases
26-02-2010 : McARTHUR SAYS EMEC'S GOOD NEWS REINFORCES THE CASE FOR ACTION ON THE GRID
Welcoming the news that EMEC is to expand its workforce to meet the demand from its clients, Orkney MSP, Liam McArthur, said that the move shows the speed at which marine renewable energy is developing and he argued that this added urgency to the need to make sure that the national grid was expanded to allow commercial wave and tidal power developments to go ahead and so to help to meet Scotland and the UK's renewables targets.
Liam McArthur said, "The demand from EMEC's clients, which is the driving force behind the creation of these five new jobs, shows that EMEC's reputation as the best place to tests marine renewable devices is as strong as ever. It also shows that the technology to harness wave and tidal energy is moving fast.
"This means that the need to address the infrastructure needs of commercial wave and tidal projects is more urgent than ever.
"The main challenge is address the problem of getting access to the national grid so that the rich wave and tidal current resources in Orkney, and elsewhere in the Highlands and Islands, can be tapped and so help to meet Scotland and the UK's ambitious renewables targets. The grid needs to be extended to allow this energy to be tapped and the charges for access to the grid, which currently discriminate against power producers in the Highlands & Islands, need to be dropped to make developments financially viable.
"The current grid charges are meant to encourage developers to generate their power close to the main areas of demand. That make no sense when our wave and tidal power resources, which we need to harness if we are to meet the renewables targets, are not to be found on the outskirts of London or Edinburgh, but are in the Islands. The fast pace of marine renewables developments, which EMEC's good news reflects, shows that the National Grid and the UK and Scottish Governments need to act on this now.