Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and
Leith) (Lab):I welcome last week's proposals in relation to enhanced renewables obligation certificates for marine energy. However, does the First Minister accept that that will not help companies that are developing the technology and those at the early stages of production, such as the pioneering Pelamis Wave Power in my constituency? Will he consider urgently what help can be given to such companies, so that Scotland can develop into the leading marine energy player that we all want it to be?
The First Minister:
The announcements that we have made give Scottish marine renewables a significant advantage not just over any other framework in the continent of Europe but over our colleagues south of the border. That is why Pelamis is now being deployed in Scotland. If Malcolm Chisholm remembers, under the previous Administration, Pelamis was a technology that originated in Scotland but was deployed in Portugal. It is now being deployed in Scottish waters. That joins this week's announcement of the world-record deployment of wave arrays in Scotland and of the biggest tidal power array to be developed and deployed in Scotland. In every one of those marine technologies, which could well dominate energy production over the course of this century, Scotland is indeed ruling the waves. October 2nd 2008, (Columns 11452-3)