The government’s embargo on support for onshore wind power is ‘completely bonkers’, Keith Anderson has said.
In a speech at the All-Energy conference in Glasgow yesterday, the Scottish Power chief executive warned that investment in new onshore renewable generation in Scotland was under threat.
“Investment in renewable generation, particularly in Scotland, is under threat, as onshore construction slows down and is in danger of stopping completely.”
He criticised the government’s exclusion of windfarms from the Contracts for Difference (CfD) regime since 2015.
Anderson said that figures, published last week by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) department, showed the strength of public support for onshore wind power.
According to the government’s Public Attitude tracker published last week, there is 76 per cent support for onshore wind and 85 per cent backing for renewable energy.
He also pointed to a figure showing that 66 per cent of the public would be happy to have a renewable energy project in their back yard.
And Anderson said that the UK’s “endless supplies of wind” addressed the concerns of the 72 per cent of the public in the survey worried about security of supply.
He said: “Back in 2014 we were told that people were ‘fed up’ of onshore wind – well it wasn’t true then and it’s certainly not true In April 2018 – more than three-quarters of the public support onshore wind.”
Expressing disbelief about still having to make the case for onshore wind, Anderson said:”Onshore wind should be at the heart of our industrial strategy and investment programme, 2018 has to be the year we secure the future of onshore wind.
“The fact is, you can still get support for a diesel generator or keeping your old and dirty coal plant open.
“But bizarrely for a low-cost, efficient, job-creating, quick to build, green energy onshore wind turbine that the public loves – you get nothing. It is completely bonkers.”
In its general election manifesto last year, the Conservative Party said that it wants onshore renewable projects in Scotland’s Highlands and Islands to be eligible for CfDs, while maintaining the existing clampdown on such support in the rest of the UK.