ScottishPower Renewables’ plans to install up to 10 underwater tidal power turbines in the Sound of Islay, off Scotland’s west coast, has been recognised with an Energy Globe Award, one of the World’s most prestigious environmental awards.

The Energy Globe Award was founded in 1999 by the Austrian energy pioneer Wolfgang Neumann and is now considered as a leading global environmental prize. The goal of the Award is to showcase innovative sustainable projects to a global audience, in the belief that many of the current recognised environmental issues already have good, feasible solutions.

The award was presented to Barry Carruthers, Tidal Power Development Manager at ScottishPower Renewables, by the Austrian Honorary Consul in Edinburgh Mr John Clifford and the Austrian Trade Commissioner in London Mr Georg Karabaczek.

Barry Carruthers, Tidal Power Development Manager at ScottishPower Renewables, said: “We are delighted that our plans for a pioneering tidal power project in Scotland have received international recognition, and we were very pleased to receive an Energy Globe Award.

“Tidal power has tremendous potential to make a significant contribution to Scotland’s energy needs. Projects like Islay will be critical in allowing the whole industry to have a greater understanding of the challenges involved in generating electricity from the tides, before larger projects are deployed in other locations around Scotland and across the world.”

Andy Macdonald, Tidal Energy Project Officer at the Islay Energy Trust said "The award is great news for Islay and further recognition of the fantastic potential for marine renewables in the seas around Argyll. SPR has worked closely with the Islay Energy Trust to maximise the opportunities for local businesses to be involved in this world-leasing project and build up the supply chain ready for follow on projects.

The Sound of Islay project is a 10 megawatt (MW) tidal array which will be located near to the island of Islay which is located off the west coast of Scotland. The project has a strategic role to play in tidal energy development and is the essential intermediate step ahead of large scale deployment.

Development work for this project is well advanced, having secured the world´s first consent for a tidal array in March 2011. It is planned that construction work will commence in the next two years, subject to successful completion of the HS1000 prototype device tests in Orkney.

The prototype HS1000 tidal device, developed by Andritz Hydro Hammerfest Strom, was deployed in The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) off the coast of Orkney in 2011. Testing aims to fully prove that the technology can operate efficiently in Scotland’s fast flowing tides, that monitoring and maintenance operations can be performed reliably and to help drive down costs in operations and installation.