The two projects funded by the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund are either ongoing or yet to be deployed. It is therefore too early to fully measure the Fund’s success in relation to a number of its aims.

As a condition of grant funding, projects are required to submit a report to Scottish Ministers summarising the outcomes and performance of the project, as well as disseminating successful learning points from the project for benefit of the wider tidal energy sector.

The Fund fulfilled the Scottish Government’s commitment to review and relaunch the Saltire Prize. In the absence of a route to market as a result of the UK Government’s withdrawal of revenue support for the sector, the Fund provided a fair and competitive route for the Scottish Government to support the further deployment of tidal energy in Scottish waters. The Fund is enabling two of Scotland’s leading tidal energy developers to innovate and take steps to reduce the levelized cost of energy for tidal stream energy, as well as stimulating Scottish supply chain activity.

The Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund, which was launched on 10 February 2019 with total of up to £10 million available to help accelerate the commercial deployment of tidal energy in Scottish waters.

Following a process of evaluation and due diligence, two projects were supported under the Fund, with total funding of up to £4.945 million. Three further application for funds were received but were either withdrawn or not allocated funding. The Fund closed for applications on 6 December 2019 and no further funding will be distributed. The Scottish Government is considering the scope of future support for both the tidal stream and wave energy sectors in Scotland to ensure they can progress to commercialisation.

A total of three applications were either withdrawn or declined funding under the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund. One of those applicants was offered funding and subsequently withdrew its application, with the other two applications being declined on the basis of not meeting either the eligibility or essential criteria.

Following a review of the Saltire Prize a decision was taken not to reinstate the Saltire Prize Medal as part of the refocused Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund.

The date by which projects supported by the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund were required to be deployed in Scottish waters was changed from March 2020 to September 2020 following feedback from stakeholders. This included comments received at an information event held on 6 March 2019. The timeline for deployment was applicable to all applicants and all projects.

The anticipated deployment dates for projects awarded funding were assessed to be realistic at the time offers of grant were made. The Scottish Government subsequently offered to provide flexibility on grant conditions, if required, to allow for the potential impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Both funded projects have made substantial progress since being awarded funding. MeyGen’s Subsea Hub was installed in September 2020, and Orbital Marine Power are scheduled to commence turbine operational related activities in early 2021.

The Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund was launched on 10 February 2019 with a closing date for applications of 6 December 2019. The closing date for applications remained unchanged throughout the call for applications.

The date by which projects supported by the Fund were required to be deployed in Scottish waters was changed from March 2020 to no later than September 2020 following feedback from stakeholders, including comments received at an information event held on 6 March 2019.

The Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund was overseen by a recommendations panel consisting of representatives of the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and Wave Energy Scotland. The panel met six times, including on a monthly basis between March and June 2019 and on two occasions thereafter to discuss applications and agree its recommendations to Scottish Ministers. In addition, the panel were consulted by correspondence throughout the assessment process. Given the commercial nature of the projects discussed, it would be inappropriate to place the minutes of meetings on SPICe. There are no plans for the panel to meet again, following the closure of the Fund to applications on 6 December 2019.

The following table details how many vehicles have been in the Government Car Service (GCS) fleet in each of the last five years, broken down by Ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV’s).

With the agreement of Ministers, Disclosure Scotland invoked business continuity plans in March this year, and since then has been dealing with two separate application channels: business as usual, and coronavirus work. Applications in relation to recruitment solely for coronavirus work have been and continue to be prioritised.

The average processing time for all types of PVG applications is set out in the table below. For 2017, 2018, 2019 and January and February 2020, all applications were business as usual. From March 2020 the separate application channels are shown, with the figure for November being to the date the information was compiled.