§ Mr. Home RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give the date of the start of work on the oscillating water column project on Islay, the date of the completion of civil construction work on that project; and the date of the formal signature by his Department of the papers authorising this work.
§ Mr. Michael SpicerMy Department announced the construction of the shoreline wave energy project in Islay on 1 July 1987.
Construction work was started at the beginning of August 1987. The construction and preliminary monitoring phase was successfully completed by the end of March this year. I announced to the House on 23 March that the next phase of the project, to install an air driven power turbine and generator, will now proceed, subject to contract, on the basis of the data acquired so far.
§ Mr. Home RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) if he will list the number and amounts of payments for work on wave energy in which settlement of the invoice by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority was more than a year after the submission of the invoice; and if he will give the length of the delay in each case;
(2) if he will list those contracts on wave energy research in which final signatures of the papers by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority officials was more than a year after the start of the contract; and if he will give the length of the delay in each instance.
§ Mr. Michael SpicerThe information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.