The Scottish government is giving five wave- and tidal-energy developers 7.9 million pounds ($12.5 million) to develop prototypes off the country's coast.

The funding “is to enable Scottish developers and supply chain firms to capture an increased share of the growing international marine energy market,” according to a government statement today. The technology may be worth as much as 4 billion pounds to the nation’s economy by 2020.

Scotrenewables Tidal Power Ltd. will receive 1.2 million pounds toward a 9.2-million-pound project to install commercial- scale tidal turbines. “This funding will allow us to progress to the next stage in the development of our floating tidal technology,” John McGlynn, the company’s business development manager, said in the statement.

The government granted 3.9 million pounds to AWS Ocean Energy Ltd., 1.4 million pounds to Nautricity Ltd., 750,000 to Oceanflow Energy Ltd., and 617,000 to Albatern Ltd.

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