The £780 million link can only go ahead if there is guaranteed to be enough generation on Lewis to make it worthwhile. However, high costs to connect to the transmission network are one of the main barriers to more than 300MW of consented projects getting investment.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) last week proposed a guaranteed power price of £115/MWh for Scottish island wind. That is higher than the £100/MWh offered on the mainland. It is expected to be enough to bring on Orkney and Shetland projects but falls short of the £129/MWh independent consultant Baringa said the Western Isles needed.
Decc’s consultation stated: “We recognise that this level of support may not bring on all of the potential projects, and therefore may not of itself provide sufficient support for all potential transmission links. However, this is the case for all technology bands.”
Highlands and Islands Enterprise head of energy Audrey MacIver welcomed the step towards extra support but said “we do have concerns about the level”. The development agency had been pushing for different rates reflecting the different needs of the three relevant island groups.
SSE’s network company SHE-T submitted a “needs case” to regulator Ofgem in June for the interconnector. An SSE spokeswoman said that case was still under discussion and they needed to hear from developers whether they could go ahead.
The supplement for Scottish island wind has its critics, who say it leads to poor value for customers.
Guy Newey, head of energy and environment at think-tank Policy Exchange, argued government should prioritise “smoothing planning routes” for mainland onshore wind projects.
He said: “We should look to be supporting the cheapest forms of low carbon electricity we can and we should be encouraging technologies to compete against each other. That should include reflecting the cost of getting the power to centres of demand. I am not sure this is a particularly sensible move.”
Gaynor Hartnell, independent consultant and former chief executive of the Renewable Energy Association, said the move further complicated government’s Electricity Market Reform framework.
She said: “From a policy perspective I don’t think it is terribly clever. It is committing two sins: not being technology neutral and not being a good idea in the first place. It seems to be completely politically motivated.”