Energy Minister gets Pentland Firth Brief
September 7, 2009 12:00 AM
Lord Hunt, minister of state at the Department for Energy and Climate Change today visited Caithness to be briefed at first hand on tidal power in the Pentland Firth. The meeting was arranged by local MP John Thurso. Representatives of Wick and Scrabster Harbours, HIE, the Regeneration Partnership, Rolls Royce and the Environmental Research Institute in Thurso briefed the minister on progress and discussed how government could help accelerate development.
John Thurso said: "I was disappointed when the white paper on renewable energy was published in July that there was no mention of the Pentland Firth which is the only site in the UK currently being licensed. I therefore met with the minister who agreed to visit Caithness. This has been an extremely productive meeting. Between all of those present the minister received a full picture of the potential and current state of development as well as a realistic appraisal of the challenges to be overcome. He was left in doubt as to the commitment and abilities available to meet the challenges, and of the importance of this resource to the far north economy. At the end of the meeting the minister thanked all those present and stated it had been a particularly useful briefing. In addition he announced that he had asked for a marine energy action plan to be written and said he wanted to consult further with those attending to make the plan as robust as possible."
The minister took time from his schedule to visit Scrabster Harbour to see for himself the potential for development.
John Thurso added: "In the past I have suspected that some in Whitehall have not taken marine renewable energy seriously. After this meeting the minister has made clear that both he and the department are committed to marine energy. This is a good step forward which I welcome and which I hope will enable us to make progress."
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