Power cut in Scottish renewable revolution

THE amount of electricity produced in Scotland from renewable sources such as turbines fell last year because of low wind and rainfall, casting doubt over the government’s energy ambitions.

Figures released by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) reveal renewable generation, particularly from sources such as hydro power, which includes wave and tidal turbines, fell in 2010 for the first time in seven years.

The Scottish Government has pledged to have all the nation’s electricity needs provided by renewables by 2020.

Earlier this week First Minister Alex Salmond described green energy as the biggest revolution since the switch from “hunter gatherer to agriculture”.

But the DECC figures last night prompted warnings the SNP government’s energy policy could jeopardise Scotland’s future supplies and that “tried and tested” sources such as nuclear must not be ditched.

CBI Scotland’s policy executive, Andrew Dyce, said: “What Scotland requires is a well-rounded energy mix – one that takes advantage of our abundant natural resources, but which also provides tried and tested sources of constant, reliable and affordable electricity for businesses across the country.”

The DECC report found electricity from renewables dropped below the 10,000 giga watt hours (GWh) mark to 9,515.3GWh last year. It stated: “The low wind speeds and rainfall during 2010 saw reductions in generation.” In England, by contrast, renewable energy generation surged ahead to almost 14,000 GWh.

Low rainfall meant hydro production fell by a third last year. And despite a sharp increase in the number of wind turbines installed, there was only a 6 per cent increase in the amount of power they produced.

Labour leader Iain Gray said: “This sudden drop in renewable energy production underlines the need for the SNP government to set interim annual targets to ensure we are on course for 2020. Alex Salmond’s overblown rhetoric on energy needs to match reality.

“This week he hailed Scotland’s renewables revolution as a ‘paradigm shift’, the greatest in 10,000 years, equivalent to the ‘change from hunter gathering to agriculture’ but he is failing to come up with the goods or even outline milestones towards 2020.

“Scotland has colossal renewable energy potential – we must seize that potential and the thousands of green jobs it will create in the process.”