SNP ministers urged to reject gas plant plans amid fears Scotland energy bills could soar

The Scottish Government has been urged to reject plans for a gas power plant over fears that expensive technology could hike energy bills.

SNP ministers have been urged to distance themselves from controversial plans for a new gas plant amid fears it could lock households into higher energy prices.

The Scottish Government is considering an application from SSE and Equinor to build a new gas burning station with carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) in Aberdeenshire.

As well as the climate concerns, campaigners have warned the proposal could also lock Scottish households into paying gas prices which are set internationally and are prone to other factors like the war in Ukraine.

Climate campaigners use a giant house of cards outside the Scottish Parliament to warn ministers against plans to build a new fossil fuel burning power station at Peterhead. Picture: Lesley MartinSCOTTISH GOVERNMENT WARNED NEW PETERHEAD FOSSIL FUEL POWER PLANS ARE ‘HOUSE OF CARDS WAITING TO COLLAPSE’ AS COP28 BEGINSClimate campaigners today collapsed a giant house of cards outside the Scottish Parliament to warn Ministers that plans to build a new fossil fuel burning power station at Peterhead were an unsafe gamble with our climate future. The warning comes as the First Minister is in Dubai for the UN climate conference COP28 starting today. The urgent need to phase out fossil fuels are expected to be a focus of intense discussions over the next two weeks. All Images © Lesley Martin 2023e: [email protected]: 07836745264

The fears come after the UK government suggested it would build new gas power stations to ensure a reliable energy supply when wind and solar power is not producing enough power to meet demands. But a new report from the Carbon Tracker think-tank said the price of electricity generated from gas with carbon capture could be up to 67 per cent higher due to the expense of CCUS.

The UK government has pledged £20 billion of public money to carbon capture despite some concerns that it will prolong the use of fossil fuels.

The UK and Scottish governments’ statutory advisers, the Climate Change Committee, have warned CCUS would be needed to meet net zero targets. But the technology is yet to be ramped up to commercial scale and Scotland’s only planned project, for Peterhead, has been delayed.

The new report has recommended the UK government “should adopt a more targeted approach towards no-regret, low-risk and future-proof options” and scale back CCUS targets.

It also concluded “the window of opportunity for CCUS to abate emissions from gas-fired power plants is limited” due to increased deployment and cheapness of renewables and other forms of battery storage, which increase the likelihood of gas carbon capture projects like the one in Peterhead becoming “stranded assets”.

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s climate campaigner Alex Lee said: “Carbon capture should not be used to prolong the burning of fossil fuels at Peterhead or anywhere else. Scottish households should not be paying twice to line the pockets of greedy energy companies – once to construct their dodgy carbon capture schemes and then again by paying bills chained to the volatile international price of gas.

“This analysis concludes that gas with CCUS is a high-risk, high-cost option, which means that there is a high chance that bill payers would spend the next 25 years regretting Scottish ministers approving such a power plant. Experience from around the world is clear that carbon capture never delivers at the levels its lobbyists claim, risking our efforts to cut climate pollution.

Mr Lee added: “Ministers should reject the Peterhead gas plans, which will undermine the transition to renewable energy.”

Carbon Tracker associate analyst and report author, Lorenzo Sani, said: “CCUS technology has proven to be much more complex and expensive than thought, while renewables cost reductions have dramatically changed the landscape.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said it was “fully committed to a just transition to a climate resilient and net zero Scotland by 2045”. "It would not be appropriate to comment on a live application,” the spokesperson said. “A decision will be taken by ministers in due course.”