The money will serve to help bring down the costs of harvesting this clean energy source

Jul 14, 2014 09:49 GMT  ·  By

Word has it that Scotland has its mind set on upping its dependence on green energy sources to a considerable extent in the years to come. Of all the types of renewables, offshore wind appears to be the belle of the ball in this country.

Not to beat about the bush, recent news from this part of the United Kingdom says Scotland is ready and willing to invest as much as £2.2 million (€2.7 million / $3.7 million) in boosting the popularity of offshore wind power.

According to Business Green, the funding was made available by the country's First Minister, Alex Salmond, who explained that the money was to be offered to an industry program, i.e. the Carbon Trust's Offshore Wind Accelerator.

This program, sometimes referred to only as OWA, is the result of a collaboration between government officials and industry leaders, and it brings together nine offshore wind developers among which Dong Energy, E.ON, RWE, and Vattenfall.

Information shared with the public says that folks behind the Offshore Wind Accelerator expect that, by the end of the decade, this program will help Scotland achieve a 10% drop in offshore wind power cost and thus up the popularity of this green energy source.

By the looks of it, the £2.2 million made available by First Minister Alex Salmond is expected to help the program meet its goal by supporting projects intended to deliver cheaper components, installation, and maintenance technology for offshore wind.

Should things go according to plan, the Offshore Wind Accelerator scheme will receive £200,000 (€251,379 / $342,096) of the promised £2.2 million by the end of the year. The remaining funds will be provided over the following two years.

Commenting on the need to make offshore wind more accessible and therefore more popular, Alex Salmond said, “Renewable energy is extremely valuable to Scotland's economy, to reducing our carbon emissions and in providing low carbon energy supplies as well as jobs and long-term investment.”

“It also helps keep the lights on across these islands at a time when Ofgem is warning of a tightening gap between electricity supply and demand south of the border,” Scotland's current First Minister went on to detail in an interview with the press.

Just for the record, it must be said that this country in the United Kingdom hopes to have 100% of its gross electricity needs met by clean energy alone by the year 2020. If Scotland is to even have a chance at achieving this goal, heavy investments in renewables should be a no-brainer.