Scotland will host its annual Scottish Low Carbon Investment Conference (SLCIC) in Edinburgh this week, focusing on identifying and discussing the opportunities and challenges around major offshore developments and infrastructure projects.

The event which will be attended by senior financiers, utilities chiefs and politicians from around the world, will also showcase the technological solutions to attract investment.

It will be opened by First Minister, The Right Honourable Alex Salmond MSP, who will highlight Scotland’s role in leading innovation and development in the low carbon field.  

Other speakers include Ron Heyselaar, head of project development for the Abu Dhabi renewable Energy Company (Masdar), who will give the keynote speech on deploying large scale clean energy projects and the importance of partnership and policy.

He will be joined by Lord Smith of Kelvin, chairman of the UK’s Green Investment Bank; Kristian Moller, the deputy director general of the Danish Energy Agency; and Fergus Ewing, Scotland’s Energy Minister.

Masdar and the Scottish Government signed a framework for action (FFA) to develop a comprehensive renewable energy plan in January earlier this year at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.   

Masdar’s attendance at the Edinburgh conference is further evidence of the close working relationship that Scotland is developing with the UAE-based organisation.  

“The framework signed by the Scottish Government and Masdar - Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company - combines efforts to advance new, sustainable forms of energy,” said Heyselaar, head of project development for Masdar. “We realise the value and benefits that stems from our cooperation and collaboration on renewable energy projects.”

Dr Lena Wilson, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, Scotland’s main economic development agency responsible for attracting foreign investment into the country, said: “With unrivalled natural resources – 25 per cent of Europe’s tidal resources and 25 per cent of Europe’s wind resource and 10 per cent of Europe’s wave resource - Scotland has some of the most ambitious renewable energy targets in the world.”

“We are committed to producing the equivalent of 100 per cent of electricity from renewables by 2020. This makes us a hub for research into sustainable energy solutions and a focus for international investment and the conference provides an ideal opportunity for the clean energy industry to come together and discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the sector. ”

"We are thrilled to have Masdar on board for this year’s conference and this is a valuable platform from which we can share our combined knowledge with other international partners, and focus on development opportunities, investment in low carbon projects, technological cooperation, policy-making and best practice initiatives,” Wilson concluded. – TradeArabia News Service