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World’s biggest wave farm for Lewis gains planning                22/5/12

Plans to build a 40MW wave energy farm off the Westside of Lewis received planning permission today -  making it the world’s largest fully-permitted ocean energy site.

The announcement was made by the Scottish Government’s Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism Fergus Ewing at the All Energy conference in Aberdeen.

The proposed huge 40 MW wave farm would create green electricity out of the rolling Atlantic waves off the west coast of Lewis.

Up to 50 wave machines would be installed just 700 metres off the coast at Fivepenny, Borve, with the capacity to power nearly 30,000 homes.

Marine energy developer Aquamarine Power has set up a subsidiary company called Lewis Wave Power Limited to run the project.

The company was awarded a seabed lease in May 2011 for the scheme which could power 38,000 homes.

But the scheme will not proceed unless the halted £700 sub-sea cable across the Minch proceeds.

If the interconecter had started this year as planned, construction of the wave farm would also have begun under a timescale to coincided with the cable switch-on.

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar previously approved planning for the onshore hydroelectric power plant which will be connected to the Oyster wave energy farm.

Aquamarine Power are currently testing their second full scale wave machine, known as the Oyster 800, at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, and are now producing electrical power to the grid.

“This is a significant milestone for our company,” says Aquamarine Power Chief Executive Officer Martin McAdam. “The goal of our industry is to become commercial, and to do this we need two things – reliable technologies and a route to market. Our engineers are currently working hard on getting the technology right and we now have a site where we can install our first small farm, with a larger-scale commercial build out in the years ahead.

“We believe wave energy presents an important opportunity for the Isle of Lewis. Our development could provide significant economic benefit to the local community. In Orkney, for example, we have spent over £5 million in the local economy during the installation of the first two Oyster devices and have worked with over 40 local companies as part of our commitment to sourcing much of the services and expertise we require locally.”

Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said: “I am delighted to announce that Scottish Ministers have granted a Licence to Aquamarine Power to develop the largest commercial wave array in the world. Aquamarine Power is an exciting, dynamic Scottish company that is increasingly expanding its renewable business.

“This is another significant milestone for Scotland’s wave sector. With 10 per cent of Europe’s wave power potential, and 25 per cent of its offshore wind and tidal power potential, the opportunities for Scotland are enormous.”‬