The Siadar project has been granted consent by the Scottish government for one of the world’s largest wave power stations to be constructed off the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. The 4MW scheme is to be developed by npower renewables, the UK-based subsidiary of RWE Innogy and Wavegen, a subsidiary of Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation, who say that the project will serve as a reference for the development of other commercial wave power stations around the world. The project will use Wavegen’s oscillating water column technology to harness power from the Altantic waves. Construction could begin this year and would take around 18 months. The Siadar project will consist of 40 of Wavegen’s Limpet turbines encased within a concrete breakwater structure. Wavegen has been testing the technology at a prototype installation on Islay in Scotland since 2000. The Scottish government targets are to meet 50% of electricity demand from renewables by 2020, with an interim target of 31% by 2011.