The Saltire Prize, named after the flag of Scotland, was a national award for advances in the commercial development of marine energy.
Announced in 2014, to be considered for the £10 million award, teams had to demonstrate, in Scottish waters, a commercially viable wave or tidal stream energy technology "that achieves the greatest volume of electrical output over the set minimum hurdle of 100 GWh over a continuous 2-year period using only the power of the sea."
The Saltire Prize was open to any individual, team or organisation from across the world who believed they had wave or tidal energy technology capable of fulfilling the challenge.
When it was first announced in 2008 by then First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond it was the world's largest ever single prize for innovation in marine renewable energy.
[15] In March 2020, SIMEC Atlantis Energy (now SAE Renewables) was awarded £1.5 million towards developing a sub-sea hub to connect multiple turbines at the MeyGen project.