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Arnish-made wave machine wins award              28/5/12

A wave energy machine partly built at the Arnish yard on Lewis has won a major European Commission environment award.

European Commissioner for the Environment, Janez Potočnik, gave Aquamarine Power first prize in the ‘product’ category for its innovative Oyster wave energy technology.

The company is currently commissioning its Oyster 800 device at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney.

Foundations  which attach the machine to the seabed were manufactured at Arnish.

Martin McAdam, Chief Executive Officer of Aquamarine Power, said: “Marine energy has a massive role to play in helping Europe meets its challenging carbon reduction targets.

“This award recognises the potential that innovative technologies such as Oyster have, not just in moving to a green energy future, but also in providing new growth areas for European economies and new opportunities for coastal communities reliant on declining natural resources.”

The company plans to install up to 50 of the wave machine off the westside of Lewis under the name of Lewis Wave Power Limited. has secured three lease options for areas of the seabed off the coast of Orkney and Lewis in Scotland with a combined potential installed capacity of 240MW.

Aquamarine Power’s shareholders include the UK’s leading generator of renewable electricity SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy), global power and automation company ABB and Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Government’s enterprise agency.