Renewables may only create 300 jobs, not 50,000, claims expert

ENERGY experts have clashed over the Scottish Government’s claim that 50,000 green jobs could be created as part of Scotland’s renewables revolution, with one leading economist warning the number could be as low as 300.

MSPs were also told that Scottish Government ministers “don’t know” their own energy policy, amid growing questions over the viability of a flagship target to generate all of Scotland’s electricity needs from renewables by 2020.

But green energy campaigners insist that the industry is growing “quickly and sustainably” and will support thousands of jobs in the long term, as a Holyrood inquiry into the Scottish Government’s policy on renewables got under way yesterday.

Richard Marsh, director of Edinburgh-based 4-Consulting, said that employment figures cited by those promoting the industry are “often greatly exaggerated”.

In a recent report based on different scenarios outlined by Scottish Renewables, he stated the number of jobs created could be as low as 300.

“Overall, demand for nearly 50,000 jobs may arise up to 2020, but most of this demand will be temporary and recede once infrastructure has been deployed in the North Sea,” he said.

“The employment figures show that with moderate success the offshore wind industry could sustain ‘long-term employment’ of around 1,100 full-time equivalent workers. Up to 2,200 jobs could be sustained if Scotland’s vision is achieved, but just 300 jobs are sustained in the worst-case scenario.”

But Niall Stuart, chief executive of Scottish Renewables, said there were already 1,100 jobs in the renewable energy sector in mid-Scotland and Fife alone, and said that the 300 jobs claim “grossly underestimates” the true figure.

“We are also doing some work on employment and we think the number is at least six times what has been set out in that report,” he said.

“This is an industry that is growing quickly, but it is growing sustainably and it is growing for the long term.”

A Scottish Government spokesman insisted Mr Marsh’s claims were “completely wrong”.

He added: “Independent research shows there are 70,000 people employed in the low carbon economy, with the potential to rise to 130,000 by 2020.

“Jobs are already being created as Scotland attracts major investment into the development of wind, wave and tidal technologies.”

Helen McDade, head of policy with the John Muir Trust, questioned the emphasis on onshore wind farms in achieving the Scottish Government’s renewables targets and called for a “national energy commission” to examine the issue.

Green subsidies add £15 to bills

Subsidies for renewable energy schemes added £15.15 to household energy bills in the UK last year, a report has revealed.

Green energy company Ecotricity, which calculated the figure from a new Ofgem report, compared this with the rising cost of imported gas, which added about £120 to energy bills last year.

Ofgem’s annual report on the Renewables Obligation subsidy system showed that subsidies for onshore wind farms added £4.68 to energy bills.

Ecotricity founder Dale Vince said there had been a “massive campaign of misinformation” by lobbyists for the gas and nuclear industries that had been “taking aim at wind energy”.