Sturgeon calls for more ambition on offshore wind

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has called for the UK Government to increase its ambition to develop offshore wind. The First Minister has highlighted that Scottish wind power is currently more cost effective than nuclear sources. She explained that in her view cost reductions are key to a long term commitment to support investment on large scales.

The Contracts for Difference initiative by the Government allows cost reductions to be achieved in the supply of wind energy in Scotland. Onshore wind projects are now bidding successfully to supply power at a price substantially less than £92.50 per megawatt hour than the consumer will have to pay for the Hinkley C nuclear project.

However limited support has been given to the Scottish industry. Only one Scottish offshore wind farm received a contract and two major offshore wind farms were refused. Ms Sturgeon has therefore called for greater ambition and requested the Government take steps to give confidence in the offshore wind industry.

The First Minister said:

“Scotland has made huge progress in renewables deployment in Scotland, generating enough renewable energy to meet 44 per cent of Scotland’s annual electricity demand, generating millions of pounds of community benefit, and displacing an estimated 12 million tonnes of carbon dioxide across the UK.” “The results of the UK Government’s Contracts for Difference auction, announced last week, prove that renewables in Scotland are cost effective, with projects accounting for nearly half the allocated capacity but only an estimated one third of the cost.” “The results also show that Scottish onshore wind is now considerably cheaper than new nuclear; thanks to sustained support and large-scale deployment of projects such as Scottish Power’s Whitelee development.” “I congratulate the Neart na Gaoithe project in the Firth of Forth and Scottish Power’s East Anglia development for securing contracts. These projects demonstrate the value of developing this industry: real jobs, clean electricity and valuable contracts for suppliers.” “The UK Government must now show greater ambition for the Scottish offshore sector. We are already seeing cost reductions in offshore wind but the scale of growth planned for the sector will be a key driver to delivering further cost reductions for the long term benefit of consumers. It is essential that the UK Government provide confidence to the offshore wind industry that sufficient money will be available in future allocation rounds to allow the sector to move forward with assurance and enable costs to be further reduced.” “Without this ambition Scotland risks missing the opportunity to cement the growth of an industry, with significant supply chain benefits, while decarbonising our energy supply.”