In a memorandum of understanding with the Ocean Energy Association of Japan, the EMEC has agreed to provide advice and support on the design, set up and operation of a Japanese Marine Energy Centre.
“Scotland is blessed with some of the world's greatest green energy resources offshore," said John Swinney, Scotland's Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth. "Through EMEC’s unrivalled expertise and the critical mass of companies now developing wave and tidal technologies in Scotland, we are leading international efforts to harness the unbridled energy of the seas to deliver safe, secure and sustainable energy and help protect the planet for future generations."
“This new partnership between Scotland and one of the world's great industrial powerhouses is very welcome, given our shared heritage for innovation and engineering," Swinney continued. "Just as a Scot, Richard Henry Brunton, helped Japan build a network of lighthouses to protect sailors from the perils of the sea in the late 19th century, our two nations are now working together to harness those very same forces of nature to generate clean energy.”
The partnership is considered an integral part of Japan's developing viable alternatives to domestic nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.
The collaboration also represents a deepening of the relationship between the Scotland and Japan, following as it does on the heels of an announcement by Kawasaki Heavy Industries last year that it will test a newly developed tidal energy system at EMEC.
Established in 2003, EMEC is currently the only accredited wave and tidal test centre for marine renewable energy worldwide.
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