Invisible from the surface, the Archimedes device is a cylinder shaped buoy, moored to the seabed. Passing waves move an air filled upper casing against a lower fixed cylinder, with the up and down movement converted into electricity.

With a low environmental impact and high power density, Archimedes can survive the most violent storms and downtime is minimised through maintenance at sea.

Simon Grey, chief executive, AWS Ocean Energy Ltd. said, “This very welcome funding support from the Scottish Executive provides the essential next step in the development of our technology, in order to open the door to subsequent commercial sales. There is a real sense of momentum building now with the Archimedes device, it is selected consistently as one of the world leading technologies in its sector and we are very confident that its future commercial exploitation will help establish Scotland as a global leader in marine energy.”