ScottishPower is to install the world's biggest wave farm, off the coast of the island of Orkney in the north of Scotland. Due to be up and running by 2008, the £10 million ($19.5 million) wave farm will have a capacity of 3MW, producing enough electricity to power 2,000 homes.
The Scottish Executive is to provide £4.14 million of the financing, in a grant from a £13 million fund set up to boost wave energy in Scotland.
Using technology from Edinburgh-based Ocean Power Delivery, the utility will install four 120-metre Pelamis 'sea snakes', jointed cylinders which sit semi-submerged in the water and use hydraulic rams to generate power.
It will be the second time the technology has been used in a commercial wave farm. The first three snakes, which have a combined capacity of 2.25MW, are due to begin operation in Portugal this spring.
Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen said: "Scotland has the potential to generate a quarter of Europe's marine energy and kick-starting the sector is vital if we are to create a significant industry based in Scotland and meet our long-term renewables targets."
Keith Anderson, director of renewables at ScottishPower, added: "This is a massive step forward. It will be a critical test of the actual devices that will be used commercially and, if successful, should help propel Scotland into the forefront of marine energy throughout the world."
ScottishPower, which recently agreed a €17.2 billion merger deal with Spanish utility Iberdrola, is an energy generator and retailer, with a generating capacity of 6,366MW, mostly from coal and gas, although it also claims to be the UK's leading wind generator.
