By Kari Williamson

This is the second round of the remaining competitive funding from the initial £13m WATERS fund launched in March 2010.

WATERS 2 aims to promote research and development activities in Scotland focusing on bringing wave and tidal power devices to commercial application.

The call is now open and companies based in Scotland and Scottish subsidiaries of overseas companies are invited to submit wave and tidal testing and prototype proposals.

Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, says: “Scotland is leading the world in the development of marine renewable energy. A wide range of both Scottish firms and major overseas companies such as Alstom, ABB, E.ON, Vattenfall and Kawasaki are investing in the development and testing of wave and tidal generation technologies in Scottish waters. It is increasingly clear that Scotland rules the waves!”

He adds: “This latest funding round follows the success of our earlier WATERS support to help developers bring their devices to full-scale testing. In addition, we have also announced an £18m fund for those companies now the verge of commercial deployment, to develop their prototype devices and forge ahead with the development of commercially viable arrays.”

The overall aim of the WATERS 2 wave and tidal power funding is to enable Scottish developers and supply chain companies to capture an increased share of the growing UK, European and global marine energy market, which could realise £4 billion for Scotland’s economy by 2020.

WATERS 2 is a collaborative venture between Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Government and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, with funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).