Ian Williams: Westminster policy must be clear and green

Published on 18/06/2012 02:16

IF ENERGY generated from offshore wind is to contribute substantially to Scotland and the UK’s future energy mix, there are a number of high hurdles needing to be cleared.

The first is the technology itself. While most of us are accustomed to seeing windmills on hilltops, the technology required to put expensive 5-7 Megawatt turbines many miles offshore has still to be rigorously tested. The strategy of “bigger and more powerful” may give “more bang for your buck” but it has shifted the renewables debate into unproven and risky territory.

Furthermore, the siting, installation and servicing of turbines in deeper water creates many expensive technical challenges and risks not dissimilar to those involved with deep-water oil and gas drilling. It is likely that a lot of these existing techniques and technologies will migrate to offshore renewables.

Then there are the banks, which have not expressed much appetite to fund offshore wind farm projects, and the substantial funding gap which needs to be filled. The imminent arrival of the UK Green Investment Bank, designed precisely to plug this gap, should help to break the deadlock.

Finally, while the Scottish Government has nailed its colours to the renewables mast with an ambitious target of 100 per cent renewable energy generation by 2020, the UK government is currently hedging its bets.

What appears to be a lukewarm message about renewables conflicts with enthusiastic support for the exploitation of gas fields, for example, to the west of Shetland. The UK government should be pushing hard for both options.

In order for the offshore wind industry confidently to make long-term investment plans, it needs the UK government to work hard on its behalf to remove many of the uncertainties. It also needs clearly to set out its policies about how the price support mechanisms will work and how energy pricing will be regulated.

All of these loose ends need to be pulled together so that this fledging industry, which has the potential to offer so much, can confidently deliver the climate change obligations to which we have all signed up.

• Ian Williams is chairman of accountants Campbell Dallas