§ Lord HYLTONasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will take steps to encourage a pilot project for generating electricity by wave-power in the Western Islands of Scotland in view of the high cost of generation by diesel-engine.
The Earl of GOWRIEOn available evidence the technology of wave power is not yet sufficiently advanced to justify the expense of such a pilot plant. Nevertheless, the Department of Energy's wave power programme, which forms part of a wider programme into alternative sources of energy, began in 1976 at a level of less than £1 million and has expanded so that the expenditure in the last financial year was approximately £3 million.