Tidal Energy Generation: Ringfenced Funding
Debate between Ian Blackford and Richard Graham(2 years, 5 months ago)
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Ian Blackford
We are where we are at the moment. My point to the Government is this. We know that the technology is there. We know that relative costs are already coming down dramatically; we can see that from the MeyGen project in the Pentland Firth, for example. Here is the opportunity to get behind something that could be revolutionary, in terms of providing clean energy—baseload energy, as I mentioned—but also the ability to create a manufacturing industry. We can perhaps learn from the mistakes that were made with wind turbines, and ensure that we are not relying on other countries to provide the infrastructure that we need, because we can do this ourselves. There is a responsibility that we have here, now, today, to get behind this industry.
Richard Graham
I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman, and I much appreciate his relatively new-found enthusiasm for the marine energy sector. I pay tribute to his colleagues, the hon. Members for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Alan Brown) and for Inverclyde (Ronnie Cowan), for the help that they have given the all-party parliamentary group on marine energy, which I founded in July 2016. The group has 25 members, two of whom are from the Scottish National party, and their support is greatly valued. However, this is a great British success story, which has an impact on opportunities from the Isle of Wight, along the coast of Cornwall, up through Wales and into Northern Ireland.
As the right hon. Gentleman will know, this wonderful decision by the Government has been greeted by the chair of RenewableUK as a
“major step forward for the…tidal energy industry.”
The chair of the Marine Energy Council has said:
“The impact of this support cannot be overstated.”
Furthermore, Nova Innovation has said that this will be
“turbocharging the delivery of tidal energy”.
This is a pivotal moment, and I am sure the right hon. Gentleman will agree that it is a huge leap forward for marine energy.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)
Order. It is not customary to read out very long interventions.