The SNP manifesto vows to introduce a range of new political ‘goodies’ in
Scotland’s renewable energy industry if re-elected to government in next
month’s Scottish parliament elections.
The party / government aims to develop an ambitious new Scottish Energy
Strategy for the new parliamentary session and the one beyond that to make
electricity ‘cleaner, more affordable and more secure’ for all consumers.
The strategy will take a “whole system view” and will encompass:
Demand reduction
Energy efficiency
A balanced energy generation mix
A role for storage, and
Requirements for a low carbon transition in transport and heat use.
In developing the strategy, the SNP vow to undertake fresh analysis and
full consideration of electricity generation options, drawing on expert
opinion, including from the Scottish Energy Advisory Board, as well as
‘carefully considering’ the suggestion from a renewable industry trade
association to set a target of 50% of all Scottish energy to come from
renewables by 2030. The manifesto adds:
Since 2007 total output of renewable electricity has more than doubled, and
57.7% of Scotland’s electricity needs now comes from renewables exceeding
our target of 50% by 2015. Between 2010 and 2014, £14.2 billion of
investment has been announced in the Scottish renewables sector, driven by
our target that 100 percent of Scotland’s electricity needs will come from
renewables by 2020.
We will continue to support new wave energy technology through Wave Energy
Scotland and the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney.
We will work closely with the Solar Trade Association to advance proposals
for expanding solar energy in Scotland. And we will also continue to
promote biomass as a good use of our forestry products for energy.
We will also explore the creation of a Scottish Renewable Energy Bond in
order to allow savers to invest in and support Scotland’s renewable energy
sector.
We are working with Scotland’s Islands communities to ensure they can
release their huge renewable energy potential. We will continue to press
the UK Government to progress the necessary EU permissions and bring
forward a viable package of support that will facilitate the vital grid
connections to the Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles.
We will ensure that by 2020, at least half of newly consented renewable
energy projects will have an element of shared ownership. And we will argue
for Scottish control of our share of feed-in tariffs to help promote
community ownership schemes.
We will explore the potential to create a government owned energy company
to help the growth of local and community energy projects. This will
include empowering communities to use the income from energy developments
to support other communities develop their energy potential.
Carbon capture and storage
We will continue to challenge the UK Government and Ofgem to reform the
transmission charging regime. We have championed Carbon Capture and Storage
(CCS) and the UK Government’s decision to withdraw financial support for
CCS is unacceptable.
We will continue to work with all stakeholders to examine what can be done
to revitalise the future of CCS in Scotland. We recognise that a new CCS
fitted gas power station can provide backup and base load and we will press
for removal of the transmission charging regime which is a block on investment.
Nuclear power ban
We will maintain a ban on the creation of new nuclear power stations due to
their excessive cost. We will continue to support the workforce of
Scotland’s existing nuclear plants at Torness and Hunterston to generate
electricity for as long as the plants are safe to do so.
Green Investment Bank
We have supported the continued presence of the Green Investment Bank in
Edinburgh seeking and securing assurances from the UK Government on the
continuation of its work as an investor in new green infrastructure, its
green purpose and its Edinburgh base, as they move to privatise the bank.
We will seek reassurances from the new owners on these points and support
the internationalisation of the organisation, helping to secure and promote
Scotland’s role as a global leader in the fast-growing international market
for green finance.
Low Carbon Transport System
We are committed to increasing low-carbon transport and travel in Scotland
and by 2020 we will deliver a Low Carbon Travel and Transport programme
with £62.5 million investment to create low carbon infrastructure. We will
refresh the Switched On Scotland Electric Vehicle Roadmap which was first
published in 2013
Oil and Gas
The SNP manifesto on this merely summarises the recent city and shire deal
for Aberdeen, adding: We welcome the fact that oil and gas companies are
using their expertise, especially in subsea, to help take forward renewable
energy developments.
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