The party said that it would push for a transmission charging regime which supports Scotland’s energy industry “rather than undermining it as the current regime does”.
“Our proposed changes to Westminster’s failed transmission charging regime will provide much needed support for our energy industry at all levels,” said SNP MSP John Swinney.
The manifesto pledge comes weeks after Scottish Power’s Longannet power plant announced that it would most likely close in part due to the steep charges, with the SNP warning that the security of Scotland’s future electricity supply is now “at risk”.
The SNP claims that the current transmission charging regime penalises the energy industry in Scotland, with generators in the north of the country paying £26 per kilowatt and in Fife paying £17.10/kW. This compares to Cornwall where generators are paid £5.80/kW and Somerset where they are paid £3.94/kW.
But transmission operator National Grid has shrugged off the criticism, telling Utility Week that the charging regime is uniformly applied across the country based on the amount of generation relative to local demand.
“In Scotland, there is currently over 11GW of generating capacity, compared to a peak demand of 5.4GW, and Scotland also has 14GW of connection offers,” a National Grid spokesman said. “It is because of this excess of generation in Scotland – compared to local demand – that generators in Scotland pay more in transmission charges than those in England and Wales. The negative generation tariff in Cornwall is due to there being less generation than demand in the South West,” the spokesman added.
The SNP also said that it would push for further support for the offshore oil and gas industry, following historic lows on the global gas market which has threatened the future of a sector already in decline as reserves fall.
The SNP describes the tax breaks already offered by government as “a necessary first step”.
However, we will continue to press the UK Treasury to do all it can to protect jobs and investment in light of lower global oil prices and will work to increase internationalisation opportunities for Scotland’s oil and gas industry,” the SNP said.
The full manifesto is expected on 20 April.