Independence: Energy warning over ‘smaller economy’

AN INDEPENDENT Scotland would face a “greater challenge” to keep the lights on than the rest of the UK because of its smaller economy, energy experts have warned.
Picture: PAPicture: PA
Picture: PA

Scotland’s energy sector would be gripped by a series of crises with higher electricity bills and the country’s share of North Sea oil subject to years of legal wrangling, it was claimed. The stark warning about the threat to energy supplies in an independent Scotland were made in a series of research papers by the David Hume Institute at the University of Edinburgh.

Peter McGregor and Kim Swales, who are economics professors at Strathclyde University, said Scotland would have an economy less able to trade electricity, smaller storage space and more restrictive systems for electricity generation.

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