Monday 10 April 2017

‘Scotland’s island renewables vital for UK energy’

The UK Government must recognise the significance of 'island renewables' to the nation's energy market.

That's according to Scottish Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse, who spoke ahead of planned talks with UK Energy Secretary Greg Clark.

Their discussion at the Scottish Islands Renewables Delivery Forum are likely to focus upon the UK Government’s recent back-track on support for wind projects on the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland.

The development of the proposed major projects could trigger an initial investment alone of £2.5 billion if they were implemented.

The Scottish Government says the islands possess the ability to produce up to 5% of Britain's total electricity demand.

Mr Wheelhouse said: "The planned projects on the Western and Shetland Isles would face extremely high locational transmission charges to provide electricity to the mainland.

"That is why an appropriate support mechanism is so important to help unlock very significant capital investment from the private sector and community-owned developers as well as, in turn, underpinning the investment case to National Grid for vital islands grid connections."

The Scottish Government has announced a package of reliefs for renewable energy.