Isra-Mart srl:Scotland's marine energy sector aims to rule the waves

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Scottish renewable energy companies could soon be helping to power Latin America and the Maldives, after the government agreed a series of sizeable deals to help kick off low-carbon projects around the world.

Earlier this week, environment secretary Richard Lochhead signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to promote Scottish clean energy expertise in new projects across Latin America and the Caribbean.

The news was swiftly followed by an announcement that Scotland would partner with the Maldives government in a £48,000 study to assess the wave, tidal and ocean thermal energy potential of the island nation.

The IDB agreement will help the bank meet its plans to increase financing for renewable energy and climate-related projects in Latin America and the Caribbean to $3bn by 2012 under its Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Initiative (SECCI).

Under the terms of the MoU, a working group will be set up early next year to identify joint projects, promote best practice sharing, and kick-start research and exchange programmes in all sectors of clean energy technology and policy.

Signing the deal in Washington DC, Lochhead said: "A low-carbon economy is the biggest opportunity this century. Scotland is a leader in the global low-carbon market and in line with our recent Low Carbon Economic Strategy. This is yet further demonstration of Scotland seizing new opportunities and capitalising on our vast comparative advantages."

Meanwhile, the Maldives project was agreed at the UN Climate Change talks in Cancun and comes after the two governments agreed a Joint Statement on co-operation to address climate change last year.

The Maldives, a chain of 1,200 islands in the Indian Ocean, has been identified as one of the countries most at risk from climate change, particularly from rising sea levels, as its highest point is no more than 1.8 metres above sea level.

It aims to be carbon neutral by 2020 and has high hopes that exploiting marine energy will help it achieve that goal.

After the study concludes next year, the two countries will work together to develop the Maldives' potential resource.

Maldivian environment minister Mohamed Aslam said tapping into renewable energy was vital to the country's future economic development and prosperity.

"If the Maldives can demonstrate that low-carbon development is not just practical but also profitable, we hope larger countries will follow suit," Aslam said. "As an island nation spread over a thousand kilometres of ocean, I believe marine renewables hold enormous potential to make the Maldives an international energy leader in the zero-carbon economy of the future."