First minister says Huhne plans threaten Scotland's renewable energy ambitions
Plans to reform the electricity market could threaten Scotland's potential to capitalise on the renewable energy boom, First Minister Alex Salmond has warned.
The UK is facing tough choices about how to keep the lights on.
- By Stefan Morkis
- Published in the Courier : 17.12.10
- Published online : 17.12.10 @ 03.39pm
UK energy and climate secretary minister Chris Huhne has announced plans to help replace a quarter of the UK's generating capacity by 2020, while Prime Minister David Cameron described the UK's energy supply as "clapped out" and in need of a complete overhaul.
Although the plans unveiled on Thursday are a move towards a low-carbon economy, Mr Huhne's proposals also include new gas-fired power stations and a new nuclear power station to complement renewable sources.
The coalition government wants to make generating electricity from carbon more expensive and offer top-up payments to companies producing electricity from low-carbon sources, so they will continue to make profits even if the price of wholesale electricity falls.
He said, "These reforms lay the foundations for a sustainable economy, bring billions in investment in the UK through greater certainty, safeguarding jobs up and down the supply chain and giving the UK real competitive advantage in advanced energy technologies.
"More than £110 billion of investment is need in new power stations and grid upgrades over the next decade — that's double the rate of the last 10 years. Put simply, the current market is not fit to deliver this."
However, Mr Salmond said the proposals could undermine efforts to attract investment in Scotland's renewables sector — which Tayside hopes to cash in on.
Discrimination
"This set of reforms must put in place long-term mechanisms to fully exploit our renewables potential, support jobs and create a balanced, low-carbon energy mix in Scotland," he said. "With the highest renewables targets and the best energy potential in the UK, we need a framework that fully delivers all that Scotland can offer.
"That means better regulation and an end to amending the current inbuilt discrimination against Scotland in transmission charging.
"The proposed changes have implications for our powers to support renewables, provide financial support for carbon capture and storage (CCS) and control emissions.
"We have used the levers available to us to create a strong and innovative framework with the best levels of support in the UK for wind, wave and tidal energy development.
"Against that successful track record, change could unnecessarily risk investor confidence and could have significant ramifications for our energy industry.
Opportunities
"Scotland's powers to target support to our unique Scottish opportunities has been key and must be maintained or enhanced."
Mr Salmond added that he does not believe new nuclear power stations should be built.
"The UK Government's complete U-turn in its proposals to subsidise the bottomless pit that is new nuclear power is deeply unwelcome. Not only are we still paying billions to decommission power stations switched off years ago, we could now face up-front costs to build new stations.
"Our clear position against new nuclear power is supported by Parliament and by the people and we will resist in the strongest possible terms any change that would see subsidies for new nuclear power in England and Wales at the expense of renewable and CCS electricity generation in Scotland.
"We are at a crossroads. There are questions over how these new reforms could work, their effect on Scotland and on existing and future investment plans.
"But we will work with UK Government to ensure Scottish ministers' powers are respected and be fully involved in agreeing and delivering any new mechanisms — recognising the major contribution that we already make to UK and EU renewable energy targets."
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