Difference in price of energy contracts
Leah Gunn Barrett boasts that Scotland has enough renewable electricity for its own needs (Letters 16 May).
However, frequently the wind often does not blow and the sun does not shine.
She does not disclose that turbine owners in Scotland received over £1 billion in constraint payments but the English electricity users had to pay 90 per cent.
Wind farms, mostly owned by foreign investors, either under construction or newly completed in the North Sea, agreed to sell power to the grid at low fixed prices under the government’s “Contracts for Difference” (CfD) scheme.
However, new wind farms are delaying taking up their CfDs because they can earn much higher prices on the open market.
Moray East announced that it was delaying taking up its CfD contract until 2023 so UK electricity consumers will potentially have to pay an extra £500m in its first 12 months of operations. But since CfD contracts allow delays of up to three years it could turn out to be £1.5bn.
If the English found out, they would be seeking independence from Scotland!
Clark Cross, Linlithgow.
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