Brit-Govt energy policy since 1980 has failed Scotland – but the SNP-led
Scot-Govt has also under-performed in terms of achieving a Renewable
Scotland by 2030.
That is the key conclusion of a new report from the Glasgow-based Common
Weal think-tank, which also calls for the government to set up a new
Scottish Energy Agency – which takes forward and includes the Scot-Govt
‘aspiration’ to set up an independent Scottish energy company.
UK energy policy since 1980 has failed Scotland. It has led to the six
largest energy companies seeing profit margins rise 4.48% since 2016, with
34.9% of households in Scotland currently facing fuel poverty.
The paper sets a 2030 timeline for achieving this Renewable Scotland
transformation, focusing on the changes needed in energy infrastructure,
battery-powered vehicles (BPVs) autonomous distribution and renewable
shipping, and makes the following key recommendations: –
Recommendations for Renewable Scotland 2030
The Scottish Government should invest in energy infrastructure and electric
vehicles to meet 75% of overall energy demand by 2030.
Scotland has only captured 0.06% of marine energy potential. The Scottish
Government should boost R&D in wave and tidal technology, with an aim to
capture 25% of marine energy resource by 2030.
The Scottish Energy Agency should work with the NorthConnect – a
publicly-owned Scandinavian consortium – to provide Scotland with a route
to export its additional renewable resource to mainland Europe
Invest £82 million in additional funding to build up Scotland’s charging
infrastructure, with an aim to see five charging stations for every 1,000
electric vehicle drivers.
Autonomous vehicles require testing trails in Scotland to have a greater
understanding of the market. £19 million would be required for testing cars
in rural and urban areas.
All ferry services run by Caledonian MacBrayne should be run on electric or
hybrid vessels by 2030 with an additional 0.0025GW added to the energy demand.
Create a Carbon Fund wherein the business sector commits to achieving
certain emission reductions through payments to an environmental fund, and
these are then fed back to industry actors as investment support for
additional costs incurred in enacting measures to reduce emissions.
Although the proposed new Scottish Energy Agency would be targeting
renewable technologies to meet its energy demand, it would also take
responsibility over North Sea oil & gas.
Oil & gas is significant to Aberdeenshire and the surrounding areas. So as
not to dramatically affect the local economy, a plan of diversification and
weaning off the reliance on oil & gas is necessary to encourage job
security. A decommissioning strategy is also needed to control the
reduction of oil production in the area
The report notes that the British energy industry is now dominated by six
big electricity and gas supply companies – most of which are owned outwith
the UK: these companies (and their respective nationalities) are:
Centrica British Gas (UK)
Scottish Power (Spanish)
Scottish & Southern Energy (UK)
EDF (French)
E.On (German)
Npower (German)
Energy prices in the UK are soaring to some of the highest in Europe after
these Big Six providers increased their electricity prices as follows:
Scottish & Southern Energy raised prices by 14.9% in June 2017.
Scottish Power raised prices by 10.8% in March 2017
EDF raised prices by 8.4% in March 2017.
E.On raised prices by 13.8% in April 2017.
British Gas raised prices by 12.5% in September 2017.
Npower raised prices by 15% in March 2017
The profit margins for these companies have hit the highest level on
record, rising 4.48% from 2016. In contrast to these large profits
recorded, 34.9% of households in Scotland currently face fuel poverty.
Scotland is very rich in energy resource – but it has been widely
underdeveloped. Scotland is currently producing the following power capacity:
Onshore wind: 6.767GW produced, 11.5 GW potential
Offshore wind: 0.187GW produced, 25 GW potential
Wave/Tidal: 0.013GW produced, 21.5 GW potential
Hydro: 1.632GW produced, 2.7 GW potential
Wave and tidal power have higher capacity factors as their resource is
constant, creating a base load of supply. However, as tidal and wave
generation are early in their development, there is great potential to
optimise implementation.
Scotland has broken world records in tidal generation, with the MeyGen
project in the Pentland Firth, run by Atlantis Resources to generate 700MWh
of electricity from two turbines in August 2017. That is the equivalent of
heating 2,000 homes from two turbines.
Research by Edinburgh University estimates that 1.9 GW is available in the
Pentland Firth, between mainland Scotland and Orkney.Scotland’s marine
energy sector had invested £217 million by 2014, with 62% of the supply
chain based in Scotland. This is of great benefit to local economies.
Yet it is estimated that Scotland’s marine energy sector could be worth £50
billion by 2050.
That is dependent on Scotland building up wave and tidal energy, which is
currently 0.06% of total potential of 21.5 GW, with some estimates
expecting marine energy to reach 33 GW.
Scotland should seek to increase R&D investment in wave & tidal energy,
with an aim to see 25% of the resource being captured by 2030, which would
provide an additional 5.375GW.
The author of the report – electrical design engineer Craig Berry –
concludes: “With the offshore wind and wave & tidal generation capacity for
expansion, Scotland could become a major exporter of renewable energy to
mainland Europe.
“But Scotland’s capability to implement energy policy is currently hindered
and as such is unable to realise its potential as a powerhouse of renewable
energy without a radical shift in the UK Government’s approach to energy.
“The Scottish Government would have the ability to enact many of the
policies put forward throughout this paper under devolution, but a key
constraint on a truly transformative policy is the limited fiscal powers
devolved to Holyrood (especially borrowing powers), which requires further
devolution which encroaches beyond energy policy.
“The limitations of a UK privately-run energy grid would also act as a
limiting factor on the proposals proposed above. The more powers that the
Scottish Parliament can gain – up to and including independence – the
better equipped Scotland will be to develop a fully-fledged bespoke energy
strategy.”
0 Comments