The Scottish Low Carbon Investment Conference

Industry backs scottish low carbon investment conference

Author: Kerrie Hull

An ambitious international conference which will help grow Scotland’s low carbon economy by helping innovative projects, technologies and companies access finance and funding has been given strong backing from the sector.

The Scottish Low Carbon Investment Conference is a key component of the Scottish Low Carbon Investment Project, a Government backed initiative. Other key partners are Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Futures Trust, Arup and Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, who are also the conference organisers.

The two-day event takes place at Edinburgh International Conference Centre on September 28-29. A dedicated website has been established at http://www.slciconference.com

Martin McAdam, Chief Executive of wave energy company Aquamarine Power, paid tribute to the aims of the conference, which is being organised for the partners by Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.

He said: “In the last decade Scotland has established a global lead in marine energy technology which has been fostered through supportive government policies.

“Our next step, of delivering commercial technology and building a green export industry here in Scotland can only be achieved through attracting significant private sector investment.

“The Scottish Low Carbon Investment project and conference is a great opportunity for the Scottish Government and its partners to demonstrate leadership in this area – not just by bringing investors and companies together – but by making Scotland the place to invest and ensuring government policy encourages private investment in green technology.

“Scotland has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to be at the heart of an exciting new industry and the Scottish Government should be applauded for taking this leading role.”

James Ives, CEO OpenHydro, also emphasized the need for the sector to have improved access to investment if it is to continue to develop, and praised the initiative in establishing the Low Carbon Investment Conference.

OpenHydro has been successful in a number of funding initiatives in Scotland, most recently the WATERS (Wave and Tidal Energy: Research, Development and Demonstration Support) scheme, which resulted in the award of £1.85 million.

Mr Ives said: “This funding will be used to design, develop, manufacture and test a cost effective power conversion and control system, enabling our tidal technology to be deployed at the array scale. The award of such significant capital support is important in moving the marine renewable industry towards commerciality.”

The project aims to make the most of the massive potential economic benefits  offered by the low carbon sector:

• Identifying low carbon projects in and around Scotland
• Clustering of projects, to a scale attractive to investors
• Assisting projects develop clear and robust business plans for greater investment success
• Supporting the growth of indigenous companies, helping them form part of the supply chain and commercialise towards global markets

The Scottish Low Carbon Investment Conference will bring together the project and innovation communities with investors from banks, fund managers and venture capital companies to realise Scotland’s potential for a world-leading contribution to clean energy and carbon reduction.

The conference will facilitate financial solutions and investment, and of course will highlight and promote Scotland’s strengths  - our opportunities for investment, skills, resources, research and technical expertise – on an international scale.

Ron Hewitt, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said:  “It is gratifying that the sector is so supportive of all of the work that is going into the project and the Conference. We will work with those involved in the sector and with the financial community to identify and debate the risks and rewards, opportunities and challenges within the renewables arena.”

Work is ongoing to identify low carbon projects in Scotland, clustering them together to maximise their attractiveness as investment opportunities where appropriate. Those involved in projects can provide details through the website.

The website is also compiling information on investors and investment activity in the sector, and will seek to “match-make” through the online data capture and through a series of events in the lead up to, and during, the conference.

Scotland has set Europe’s most ambitious carbon reduction targets, and is planning to invest £140 billion on projects and developments that will realise its carbon reduction programme . With around a quarter of both Europe's tidal and offshore wind capacity, and 10% of its potential in wave power as well as significant opportunities in hydro-power, onshore wind and biomass the Scottish Government aims to ensure that Scotland has a truly world-leading renewableenergy sector.

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