Saltire Prize

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The Saltire Prize, named after the flag of Scotland, was a national award for advances in the commercial development of marine energy.

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Announced in 2014, to be considered for the £10 million award, teams had to demonstrate, in Scottish waters, a commercially viable wave or tidal stream energy technology "that achieves the greatest volume of electrical output over the set minimum hurdle of 100 GWh over a continuous 2-year period using only the power of the sea."

The Saltire Prize was open to any individual, team or organisation from across the world who believed they had wave or tidal energy technology capable of fulfilling the challenge. Applications could be submitted between March 2010 and January 2015. [1]

The funding was later allocated to the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund as there were no eligible entries for the original prize.

Additional prizes

The Junior Saltire Prize and the sponsored doctorate were discontinued in 2016, having cost £60,000 and £48,418 respectively. [2]

Saltire Prize Medal

In 2011 the inaugural Saltire Prize Medal was awarded to Professor Stephen Salter, who led the team which designed the Salter's Duck device in the 1970s. [3] Richard Yemm, inventor of the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter, was awarded the medal in 2012. [4] Professor Peter Fraenkel, MBE, a pioneer for the development of marine turbines, won the 2013 medal. [5] The 2014 medal went to Allan Thomson, founder of Aquamarine Power. [6] No further medals have been awarded.

History

When it was first announced in 2008 by then First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond it was the world's largest ever single prize for innovation in marine renewable energy. [7] The prize was overseen by the Challenge Committee. Saltire Prize policy was the responsibility of the Offshore Renewables Policy Team in the Scottish Government's Energy and Climate Change Directorate. [8]

When it launched, the criteria included: [9]

Registration was open between June 2012 and January 2015. The winner would be whoever generated the most electricity within a continuous 2-year period before the deadline of June 2017, subject to a minimum hurdle of 100 GW. The winner was to be announced in July 2017. [9]

Competitors

There were five entrants for the Saltire Prize, in a phase of the contest that ran until 2017, two wave energy and three tidal-stream: [10] [11] [12]

By March 2015, it was clear that the prize was not going to be claimed, [11] however the Saltire Prize Challenge Committee considered other options to drive innovation in the wave and tidal power sectors in Scotland. [12] In February 2015, the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund was announced. [14]

Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund

The Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund was set up in February 2015 to provide support to the Scottish tidal power sector, complementing the funding for Wave Energy Scotland. The fund was to support capital cost of developing innovations to reduce the cost of tidal energy, for projects to be deployed in Scotland before March 2020. These had to demonstrate value and the potential for positive social and economic benefit to Scotland. [14]

In August 2019, Orbital Marine Power was the first recipient of the fund, and awarded £3.4 million towards developing the Orbital O2 turbine. [15]

In March 2020, SIMEC Atlantis Energy (now SAE Renewables) was awarded £1.5 million towards developing a sub-sea hub to connect multiple turbines at the MeyGen project. [16]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "The Challenge". saltireprize.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  2. ↑ Green, Chris (8 May 2018). "Lost at sea: Scottish taxpayers foot bill for unclaimed Saltire Prize". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  3. ↑ "Inventor of 'Duck' technology wins Saltire Prize medal". BBC News. 23 March 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  4. ↑ "Saltire Prize medal for inventor of Pelamis wave 'sea snake'". BBC News. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  5. ↑ "Saltire Prize Medal 2013". 18 March 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "Saltire Prize Medal 2014 Winner!". 19 March 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "World to compete for Saltire Prize". Scottish Government. 4 April 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  8. ↑ "About us". saltireprize.com. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  9. 1 2 "Saltire Prize Competition Guidelines" (PDF). Scottish Government. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  10. ↑ "Renewables firms to compete for £10m Saltire Prize". BBC News . 28 August 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  11. 1 2 Energy, Marine (2 March 2015). "Saltire Prize to remain unclaimed". Offshore Energy. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  12. 1 2 "Whatever happened to the Saltire Prize?". BBC News. 3 February 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  13. ↑ White, Matthew (12 April 2008). "Meygen Starts 25 year operations phase". 4c Offshore.
  14. 1 2 Ibbetson, Connor (12 February 2019). "Scottish Government eyes new tidal power schemes". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  15. ↑ "Orbital Lands £3.4M Saltire Prize". Offshore Energy. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  16. ↑ McPhee, David (25 March 2020). "Simec Atlantis Energy wins £1.5m Scot Gov grant for Meygen project" . Energy Voice. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
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