RWE backs out of tidal energy project

German energy company RWE announced it was committed to wave energy off the Scottish coast even after pulling out of a major project there. RWE npower tenewables said it wasn't interested in proceeding with the Siadar wave energy project planned for off the coast of the Scottish island of Lewis. The company, the renewable energy division of RWE, said it was interested in wave energy projects off the Scottish coast that were easier to develop, the Financial Times reports. Siadar plans to use wave energy to generate power. Tidal energy in Scotland represents about 25 percent of the total tidal stream potential in Europe. Siadar could be the world's largest tidal energy project if developed, the Financial Times adds. A 10-megawatt facility approved by Edinburgh for the Sound of Islay would generate enough power to meet the energy demands of more than 5,000 homes, more than double the amount of houses on the Isle of Islay. Scotland aims to get 100 percent of its electricity demand from renewable energy by 2020. The country used renewable energy to meet 27 percent of its demand in 2009.