§ 5. Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Energy what progress is being made with the development of wave power; and whether any additional funding by the Government is contemplated in the near future.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Energy (Mr. Alex Eadie)Research under the present wave power programme, due to finish later this year, has been making encouraging progress. Two of the devices under study have now progressed to trials in open water, at one-tenth of the working scale. We are considering views recently put to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy by his Advisory Council on Research and Development on the next steps in the programme, and we expect to be able to announce a decision shortly.
§ Mr. HooleyIn view of the importance of this infinitely renewable source of energy, which is acknowledged by the Government, is it not time that we had a much more powerful financial stake by the Government in this work? Is it not also time that we began to look at the 753 four or five different systems and to concentrate our energies on one or two of them rather than trying to go in all directions at once?
§ Mr. EadieIf my hon. Friend had listened to the very last point that I made in my original reply, he would have heard me say that we were about to make a decision shortly even in relation to finance. As for looking at all the different kinds of devices, wave energy is a new technology and, therefore, I think that it is right that, since the Government have announced already that they attach a great deal of importance to wave energy, we should look at all avenues of opportunity.