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The Orkney Renewable Energy Forum (OREF) is calling on The Crown Estate to lift the leasing moratorium imposed on marine energy projects in Orkneys waters.

OREF is delighted that the successful lease holders from the two recent leasing rounds are coming to Orkney on Friday and Saturday to present their project proposals. The commercialisation of marine energy in Orkney waters is one of the key aims that OREF has supported over its last 10 years of activity. One of the key drivers for this support is the long term employment opportunities that the sector offers. Consequently, the recent decision to establish a moratorium on any further leasing of experimental or demonstration projects in Orkney waters and the Pentland Firth has cause great concern amongst Orkney’s marine energy community. The move coincides with the launch of a rolling programme of leasing for the rest of Scotland’s waters.

Orkney has spent decades building its marine energy reputation, successfully establishing EMEC as a world class testing facility, providing comprehensive support to emerging marine energy companies and recently acting as a willing host to the worlds first and largest commercial leasing round. Now, just as activity is starting to gather momentum a unilateral decision has been taken which effectively shuts Orkney waters down for further R&D and small array development. The move also affects the waters around Caithness and along the northern Sutherland coast. The Orkney community have always sought to engage constructively with all parties on the opportunities that exist, the challenges that need to be overcome and the issues that have arisen. The key aim of this engagement has been to try and establish a partnership approach and an alignment of purpose where the best interests of all parties are met.

OREF is therefore extremely disappointed that this moratorium has been introduced without any local discussions at all about its merits and consequences. OREF believes that the imposition of a moratorium is damaging Orkney’s and Scotland’s development potential for marine renewables by:creating added difficulties for the technology and project development companies already committed to Orkney, Caithness and Sutherland by forcing them to disperse rather than concentrate their activities;driving away further technology and project development companies who would otherwise seek to deploy in the Orkney waters and Pentland Firth area;spreading the areas where environmental studies need to be completed to inform development decisions;making investment in the infrastructure needed to support the sector more difficult to secure;putting at risk the development of the whole sector in Scotland by diluting capacity building in the worlds first & leading centre of excellence for marine energy and, that it puts at risk the 140 jobs in Orkney that are already focussed on servicing the developing marine renewables sector.

Informal discussions with parties in these communities as well as with the marine energy industry and governmental agencies have indicated that there is widespread that the move to limit development in orkney waters is unnecessary and that it is counter productive. OREF is therefore seeking a swift rectification of the situation and the establishment of mechanisms to ensure that such measures are not introduced in the future unless there is a clear and identified need and an open discussion with affected parties. OREF is therefore seeking: As an immediate priority, that The Crown Estate should reopen the waters of Orkney and the Pentland Firth to demonstration leases with similar terms to those for the rest of Scotland. That the Crown Estate and any other relevant bodies review with the local communities its methods of dialogue and engagement to ensure that actions become better aligned with the strategic objectives of these communities and the country as a whole. And finally that the Crown Estate and any other relevant bodies seek to better understand and work together alongside local communities and the industry to create the best possible environment for all parties to flourish and be successful in this most exciting of sectors.

OREF has always promoted the “can do attitude” that is characteristic of the Orkney Islands, and believes that the message needs to be loud and clear - “Orkney is open for marine energy business”