Allan Thompson, founder of Aquamarine Power, which developed the Oyster wave technology tested at EMEC in Orkney, has won the £10 million Saltire Prize Challenge. Mr. Thompson was presented with a medal designed by Ortak, which was accepted on his behalf by Martin McAdam, Chief Executive of Aquamarine Power.

Presenting the medal at the Scottish Renewables Annual Conference Dinner held at the Mansfield Traquair in Edinburgh on Tuesday the 18th of March, Paul Wheelhouse MSP, Minister for Energy and Climate Change said

“The Scottish Government is firmly committed to the development of a successful marine renewable energy industry in Scotland and the Saltire Prize is an excellent catalyst for creativity in the sector, which it is hoped will help Scotland capitalise on our extraordinary wave and tidal stream resources. Bringing further innovative green energy solutions on stream will bolster our ability to generate electricity from renewable sources in the future.”

By contrast, analysis of the budget unveiled by George Osborne on Wednesday has revealed policies likely to have a seriously detrimental effect on the renewable energy industry.

Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) tax breaks will no longer be available for companies benefiting from the renewables obligation certificate (ROC) scheme or the renewable heat incentive (RHI). As pointed out in The Guardian, this will lead to reduced investment and deployment, with unused funds likely to have to be returned to investors.

As Fergus Ewing MSP said on his visit to Orkney last week, renewable energy policy is in the hands of Westminster, not the Scottish Government. In fact, a recent amendment to the UK Energy Bill saw powers removed from the Scottish Government regarding renewable energy obligations in Scotland. According to SNP energy spokesman Mike Weir, this happened with no consultation with the Scottish Parliament.

The current coalition government is not prioritising renewable energy. Continual changes in policy are creating uncertainty and lack of confidence among investors. George Osborne's repeated fiddling with tax policy has also had a similar effect on the North Sea oil industry, which reduced output to compensate, leading to the reduced revenues reported in Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland report (GERS) for 2012-13.

Scotland has the potential to generate 25% of all the renewable energy in Europe. A Yes vote in September will put energy policy firmly in the hands of the Scottish Government.