YOUR report on the Saltire Prize ("SNP's £10m wave energy contest dead in the water", The Herald, February 28) came as no shock when we consider the backdrop that the UK and Scotland's energy production policies are in total disarray.
The drive to bring more renewable energy production into the mix is laudable, but the more than generous support that is given to wind generation has skewed and distorted the investment that should be taking place in other sectors in the rush to cash in on wind.
The public investment that has gone into wave generation has been a waste of money. Yes it can be shown that it can generate electricity, but mechanical structures bobbing about in the North Atlantic - or not bobbing about in periods of high pressure - as a serious player to meet this nation's power demands should have been discounted on day one.
The Pentland Firth has been long quoted as having enormous potential in harnessing the power of the tidal race that runs back and forth from the Altantic to the North Sea. And this is the case, but it is to be tapped by bolting various types of turbine structures to the seabed. This is ambitious for several reasons, which include the harsh environment of the locations, maintenance , long term life span of the structures etc.
The answer lies in tidal generation, which that is entirely predicable in its outcomes 365 days a year. Tidal barrage or tidal lagoon is nothing more than a hydro-electric power station build in tidal waters. There are four in any one day during which power can be generated, as the tide comes in goes out twice a day. It uses old and proven technology, but sadly it's not sexy and requires major investments that have a long return on that investment.
The volumes of water that flow in and out of some of our long sea lochs on our west coast are staggering. Let that water run though turbines four times a day and you have a form of generation that is proven, predictable and not dependent on wind, sunshine, rainfall or any kind of fuel.
Alex Dickson,
Inverkirkaig,
Lochinver.
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