With most of an estimated £130 million of global capital investment earmarked for UK activity, a new report prepared for the Scottish Enterprise Energy Team says a diverse range of Scottish sectors are well placed to capture work in marine renewables projects.

The report has been completed to give companies wishing to be part of the supply chain an overview of the key issues, supply chain structure, project lifecycles and main players in the sector.

It states that while the market is only just beginning to develop, global capital expenditure on wave energy is estimated at £72 million between 2004 and 2008, with almost 50 per cent of the spend focused on the UK. In the same period, capital expenditure on tidal projects is estimated at around £55 million, nearly 90 per cent of which is related to the UK market.

The report, prepared by industry consultants OTM, says services required in the sector include business and finance, environmental surveys, design, manufacture, offshore construction, operation and decommissioning.

The document says that most governments have introduced schemes to encourage the development and uptake of renewable energy and that, while most work to date has focused on wind and solar power, the generation of electricity from marine power is the subject of renewed interest.

For more information, visit www.scottishenterprise.com