SNP warned of ‘white elephant’ power plan

But experts have warned the commitment to creating a renewable energy powerhouse could be a “white elephant” and that millions of pounds in subsidies pouring into the sector are unjustified

The reliance on wind farms and marine energy are the new priority in the growth programme set out by finance secretary John Swinney yesterday.

Supporters insisted it will be a “major driver” of economic growth, with a £70 million government renewable infrastructure fund to help boost private investment in the sector.

However, Mr Swinney and First Minister Alex Salmond faced accusations last night of stifling debate on the issue and coming down like a “ton of bricks” on dissenting voices.

The SNP wants to see all of Scotland’s electricity needs produced from renewable sources, such as wind, wave and tidal energy by 2020, but one leading economist warned this will be “impossible” to achieve.

Inverness-based Tony MacKay, who recently produced a 150-page report on the energy sector, said: “The renewables targets are completely unrealistic – they just cannot be achieved.

“They are also putting a lot of money into subsidies, particularly for offshore wind farms and offshore marine tidal and wave energy, which are just not justified.

“They are distorting the market and in addition to the subsidies, electricity companies are having to charge us about 20 per cent more for electricity to pay for the onshore wind farms. So it’s not just government subsidies, it’s also affecting consumers.”

About 20 per cent of electricity currently comes from renewable sources in Scotland, mainly hydro and onshore wind farms, but the Scottish Government wants to see this rise to 100 per cent. However, Prof MacKay said that in order to maintain a solid “baseload” of power when the wind does not blow, other sources such as nuclear and coal will be essential.

“You can reduce non- renewables down to 50 per cent if you’re optimistic, but there’s no way you can reduce it to zero,” he said. “I’ve spoken to lots of people in the industry – at Scottish & Southern Energy and ScottishPower – and it’s just not possible to do that.

“If you did away with all the baseload power stations then you would have to import electricity from England or elsewhere most of the day. The target is not only over-optimistic, it’s impossible to achieve.”

Dr Euan Mearns, an energy expert at Aberdeen University’s school of geosciences, said: “On the one hand we’ve got to say that we’re in favour renewable energy and it would be wonderful if Scotland was a leader in it – but we may end up a world leader in a white elephant.

“The full cost of large reliance on renewable energy needs to be taken fully into account.

“That includes the cost of maintaining back-up power supplies, building new storage and new inter-connectivity, in addition to the building and maintenance of a vast new renewable energy infrastructure.

“Care needs to be taken that the dream doesn’t turn into a nightmare should Scotland end up with an unreliable grid. If we end with an unreliable grid, then companies are going to go south of the Border.”

Scotland has 25 per cent of the estimated total wind and tidal energy capacity for the European Union. At the moment, there is about 2GW of onshore wind capacity installed in Scotland. Marine energy sites in the Pentland Firth and Orkney have been agreed for lease totalling 1.6GW, involving six wave and five tidal stream sites.

Dr Peter Hughes, chief executive of Scottish Engineeering, which represents 400 firms in Scotland, said he was “pro- renewables” and wanted to see more jobs created.

But he added: “John Swinney has trotted out the same old numbers again. He’s talking about 130,000 jobs. How many have we got right now? How many new jobs is he talking about – I don’t know and I don’t think he knows either.”

He called on the government to commission the Royal Academy of Engineering to produce an independent report on sources and prices of electricity and the infrastructure that goes with it to “set the course” for the way ahead.

“The Scottish Government is stifling a real, honest debate on energy supply going forward and the cost of it. Alex Salmond and John Swinney are not telling us,” he said. “The minute anybody stands up and speaks against them, they’re down on them like a ton of bricks. Well I’m standing up because it’s time somebody stood up.”

Mr Swinney said yesterday he wants to build on the country’s “competitive advantage” and take steps towards a low-carbon economy. The priority is set out in a refreshed plan to accelerate growth and create jobs.

The SNP administration said renewable energy has the potential to attract millions of pounds of investment and support 130,000 jobs by 2020.

Other areas in the six-point strategic plan include the creation of “enterprise areas”, focused particularly on low-carbon manufacturing, and a £70m National Renewables Infrastructure Fund to help attract private sector investment into the offshore technology.

Mr Swinney said: “We have established a new Strategic Priority – Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy – building on Scotland’s competitive advantage in this area and reflecting the excellent opportunity we have to secure investment and jobs in the low carbon sector.

“In light of the global downturn the strategy also takes the opportunity to sharpen our focus on areas where there is considerable growth potential for Scotland.”

The strategy aims to “set the direction” for the public sector to work with the private, academic and voluntary sectors.

It also describes a “clear focus” on capital investment and repeats the SNP’s demand that the UK government delivers further capital stimulus.

Labour finance spokesman Richard Baker said the overall strategy was a “rehash” with too few ideas. “The SNP say they want to focus on the low-carbon technologies but I’d want to see more detail before being able to judge their effectiveness. They have no clear interim targets for their goal of producing 100 per cent of Scotland’s electricity demand from renewables by 2020.

“They promise the creation of 130,000 ‘green’ jobs but again we don’t know when this will be achieved nor are there any interim targets.”

Niall Stuart, chief executive of Scottish Renewables, said: “The renewable sector is already a major part of our energy mix, and a significant employer, supporting thousands of jobs.

“The industry’s growth has resulted in the birth of many new service and engineering businesses, brought in foreign investors such as Gamesa, and provided a much needed boost for our financial, legal, engineering and construction sectors.

“With plans for major investments in offshore wind and wave and tidal developments by 2020, and a number of turbine manufacturers looking at manufacturing in Scotland, it’s clear renewables has massive future growth potential and will be a major driver of the economy.”