Scotland's wave energy body to save some Pelamis jobs

Nov 26, 2014 - Scotland’s new wave energy technology development body will take on some of the staff of Pelamis Wave Power, the technology developer going into administration.

In a statement on Tuesday, energy minister Fergus Ewing said that Wave Energy Scotland (WES) will not be able to offer jobs to all 56 Pelamis employees, but will provide opportunities for some of the experts.

Ewing explained that the new body’s major goal will be to ensure industry collaboration in order to drive research and development (R&S), share learning and knowledge. It will seek expertise from other industry sectors, for example oil and gas, and will also retain intellectual property rights from device development in Scotland.

“One of the most important challenges for the wave sector is the lack of design convergence. The long-term success for wave energy will depend crucially on deeper collaboration between companies, reduced duplication and jointly addressing common technological challenges,” the minister said.

The first task for WES will be to pinpoint the optimal areas for R&D with the help of device developers, project developers, supply chain companies, academia and other stakeholders.

Wave Energy Scotland will most likely be a subsidiary of Highlands and Islands Enterprise. It will be financed from Scotland’s energy budget.

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