The latest funding will support industry-led proposals including offshore wind, wave and tidal stream power generation. The call for R&D proposals No 390 is at www. dti. gov. uk/renewable/call. ht m and electronic versions of the proposal pack, are available from John.Clarke@aeat. co. uk.

Also speaking at All-Energy Opportunities, the Scottish Executive Minister for Environment and Rural Development, Ross Finnie, said that Scotland is in a prime position to develop and exploit the opportunities presented by emerging renewable energy technology. Citing Scotland's established reputation for engineering excellence in the difficult marine environment of the offshore oil industry, he explained that the Scottish Executive is now preparing a consultation document which will aim to increase Scotland's target for renewable energy to at least 30% or beyond by 2020.

Scotland looks certain to surpass the 100MW needed to meet its 18% target by 2010 and the Executive is working with industry and the UK Government on issues such as a major strengthening of the grid and stability measures which would be required should renewables generation jump to 33% by 2010.

The conference set the stage for the signing of a £750m, 1,500MW energy deal in which a strategic alliance was formed between the AquaEnergy Group, an American company with patents on the proven AquaBuOY floating buoy energy system, and the Scottish company Aqua Wave Energy. The agreement paves the way to establish a new Scottish manufacturing company, AquaEnergy Engineering. It aims to manufacture under licence an AquaBuOY pilot wave farm and future AquaBuOY farms for the UK and Ireland.

In his keynote address at All-Energy Opportunities 2002, energy analyst John Westwood of Douglas-Westwood Associates (DWA) said a major new study of the worldwide prospects for offshore renewable energy being conducted by his firm for the DTI has already identified 77 proposed offshore wind power projects totalling over 13,000MW of generating capacity. He described this increase from 22 projects identified a year ago as 'remarkable growth in such a short period'. If realised, these projects would require some 4,000km of underwater power cables.