Latest news with #ScotWind
The Herald Scotland
7 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Our politicians must have the courage to rethink energy policy
Transmission charging is a legitimate issue which has been around for decades. However, nothing has changed since the ScotWind licences were applied for and gobbled up. So why are companies which bought them (cheaply) now sabre-rattling about walking away? Possibly, they feel in an increasingly strong position to do so in the absence of other options for governments which have bet the house on offshore wind. Or maybe it reflects growing nervousness among institutional investors about the sector. Or maybe a bit of both. Read more by Brian Wilson Any way, these threats demonstrate the vulnerability that this one-club approach is leading us into. What if half a dozen ScotWind licensees decided for their own reasons to abandon or put on hold the projects? By their standards, the money paid for licences is small change. Where is Plan B? Yesterday, a study by Bloomberg warned that even as things stand, the UK is likely to fall far short of its offshore wind target for 2030 on which the net zero strategy depends, with only a small number of projects going ahead before that date. Studies come and go, circumstances change … but these doubts being cast on assumptions which underpin the whole net zero enterprise surely need to be taken seriously and become part of the mix which demands a rethink of the current target-led fixation. At present, a lot of things are happening in isolation but nobody seems to be joining them up into a coherent strategy which the public – also known as the electorate – can sign up to. If that void continues to exist, it is likely to be filled by scepticism towards objectives which need not be in dispute. In fairness, part of the problem – which did not exist in the past – is the fragmentation of responsibilities. Both UK and Scottish governments have fingers in the pie, not to mention a regulator, Ofgem, which has far too much power to frustrate the potential for clear-cut policy. The great majority of people subscribe in principle to the idea of a 'just transition' towards renewable power. At the moment, however, they have difficulty seeing anything very 'just' about what is happening as jobs disappear in the North Sea without any clear plan in place to replace them. Vast sums are already being spent on infrastructure but as Gary Smith, general secretary of the GMB union, pointed out, neither the skills nor the manufacturing capacity are in place to turn that into jobs. 'We seem to have fired the starting gun without being race ready', as he put it. That is a pretty serious indictment of neglect over the past decade when the transition was much spoken of but little planned for. Far too many politicians who should have been ensuring the reality of a 'just transition' were motivated by a desire to kill off the North Sea as quickly as possible without genuine concern for what happened next. Much is written about Reform UK and its positioning on race and immigration. However, its biggest recruiting sergeant at present, at least in Scotland, is its commitment to scrap what it refers to as 'net stupid zero targets', the virtue of which other parties have pretty much taken for granted. Looking across the Atlantic, it not difficult to see how this polarisation of attitudes translates into votes and the less credible the march towards 'clean power' appears to be, the greater the risk will be of that baby being thrown out with the bathwater of populist politics. That tipping point in public opinion may be closer than governments in either Edinburgh or Whitehall care to admit. There are multiple reasons why it would make sense to recognise that running down the North Sea prematurely, while we will still need oil and gas for decades to come, may be politically unsaleable – as it deserves to be. Any uncertainty which surrounds the delivery of offshore wind developments and the promised jobs that go with them can only add to the belief that an urgent reset is required. Gary Smith, General Secretary of the GMB (Image: Colin Mearns) Setting dates to meet unrealistic targets and clinging to them in the face of unpalatable evidence delivers nothing. The pace of travel is less important than the direction and it has always seemed likely that the transition could be accelerated, rather than inhibited, by maximising synergies with the existing North Sea industry. Politicians need the courage to acknowledge these realities sooner rather than later and for guidance we could look to history. Above a certain age, everyone in Scotland associated hydro electricity with the name of Tom Johnson, the Secretary of State for Scotland who won the blessing of Winston Churchill to launch the great hydro construction boom, while war still raged. Jump forward 20 years and we entered the age of nuclear power. Again there was political leadership and a sense of mission. Anthony Wedgwood-Benn, as he then was, personified the Wilson government's drive to harness 'the white heat of technology' which civil nuclear power epitomised. Each of these energy revolutions has served Scotland exceedingly well but neither would have happened without the clear political will to face down opposition and drive them through. As it happens, each provided us with low-carbon sources of electricity, long before 'net zero' was heard of. Our current energy revolution would be in a lot better place if the same political leadership could exist. Politicians in both Edinburgh and London could surely agree that an energy policy which they expect people to buy into must also be recognisable as common sense and a genuinely 'just transition'. Brian Wilson is a former Labour Party politician. He was MP for Cunninghame North from 1987 until 2005 and served as a Minister of State from 1997 to 2003
The Herald Scotland
19-05-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Glasgow has shown a sad lack of ambition with George Square proposals
The cost at £2.5 million was apparently deemed to be too high. Many millions of pounds have been spent on the hard landscaping required for the Avenues project which rumbles on and doesn't seem to have caught the imagination of the populace. I would argue that a fountain or a "wall of water" is fundamental to the success of the enterprise and a real justification for the redesign of this prime civic space. Once again the planners have shown a real lack of ambition for the city by denying it a feature that would provide a vibrant, visual asset long after Glasgow's 850th anniversary celebrations have been forgotten. David G Will, Milngavie. Zonal pricing is common sense ScottishPower and SSE's outcry against zonal pricing ("Kate Forbes slams 'damaging' North Sea profits tax", heraldscotland, May 14) and demands for 'simplicity' in the CfD scheme reek of self-interest disguised as public concern. Keith Anderson of ScottishPower's claims of a £30 billion investment threat, alongside Alistair Phillips-Davies' recent alarm over ScotWind projects, are classic scare tactics. Let's be clear: they're defending a pricing system that props up their profits while offloading costs onto struggling households and businesses. Equally disingenuous were Kate Forbes's new-found concerns about the 'damaging' impact of the UK's windfall tax. Zonal pricing is simple common sense: where energy is abundant, bills should be cheaper. Norway has proven it works – investment thrives, and consumer costs drop. Yet ScottishPower and SSE cling to a rigged system that inflates prices nationwide, shielding their margins from genuine competition. Mr Anderson's plea to avoid 'tampering' with a 'working' system is absurd. Working for whom? Certainly not the 6.5 million UK households in fuel poverty or the businesses fighting to stay afloat. Their warnings of higher costs are baseless fearmongering. Zonal pricing would cut bills where renewables flourish, reflecting real supply and demand. More importantly, a balanced energy policy – one that includes renewables alongside North Sea oil and gas, as well as coal – would reduce dependency on costly imports and stabilise prices. This is the only path to genuine energy security and affordability, not endless Contracts for Difference handouts to intermittent energy sources. If Ed Miliband backs zonal pricing, it would be his first sensible decision amid his bonkers Net Zero policies – policies that stifle North Sea oil and gas while increasing reliance on foreign imports, forcing the public and businesses to pay a premium compared to similarly placed countries. Enough is enough. Ian Lakin, Aberdeen. Read more letters These TV ads are disgusting Adverts at regular intervals are the price we pay for commercial TV. Those commercial breaks allow us to skip off into the kitchen to make the occasional cuppa. There have been times when the adverts on show have had an entertainment value with their subtlety, humour and clever use of language. Recently however our screens have been flooded with a spate of adverts which bring with them the cringe factor thanks to the coarseness and crudity in which they are couched. In particular I would like to point out those adverts which deal with female incontinence deodorants and indigestion remedies. Not one of them is characterised by subtlety, light humour or clever wordplay. Rather they are explicit in the extreme, leaving nothing to the imagination with their brash, bold and bald language. Is there anyone else who shrinks with disgust when those adverts occupy the screen to induce the cringe factor in the viewers, a reaction I imagine may well be more widespread rather than restricted to my prurient personality? There have been memorable adverts which have lived on in the national memory thanks to the smart work of those trying to capture the attention of the viewing audience for the products on display. Have those days now receded into the past and are we to be left exposed to more of the current crop of adverts which leave the TV audience cold? Do those productions exemplify the collapse of standards in public life, which is increasingly evident in all facets of our nation? Denis Bruce, Bishopbriggs. An offer easy to resist A wee word of warning to fellow readers considering disposing of "unwanted items cluttering your home". An advert I saw stated "Free uplift and a fair offer". Sounds good, however, on the "fair offer" issue, a variance of opinion may arise. In my case, I submitted medals (six), Scottish bank notes (two), watches (10) and cigarette card sets (two). In my own estimation of the value of total goods was between £400/£500. I received a call one week later. In a very civil manner the rep remarked on the good condition of many of the items (for example, the medals being worth £50-plus). Finally, when pressed he made an offer of £75 (all inclusive). A derisory offer to end a promising exchange. Hopefully my great expectations consignment will be returned to me intact ASAP. Allan C Steele, Giffnock. Keith Anderson of ScottishPower (Image: PA) Banking? What's that? May I add a necessary addendum to Ian McConnell's rose-tinted writing of his younger journalist years following the Royal Bank of Scotland ('The tumultuous tale of a great Scottish hope', The Herald, May 16)? When the Royal Bank of Scotland imploded (and it self-imploded) not a single member of its board was a professionally qualified banker, not even its managing director – who had been appointed by his predecessor in his own image. Enough said. Graeme Smith, Newton Mearns.
Scotsman
19-05-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
Offshore wind official cites importance of 'phased' ScotWind projects
OEUK report identifies shortfall in 2030 clean energy target without action Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Work on the vast ScotWind renewable projects needs to be 'phased' in order to achieve a 'steady pipeline' of delivery amid turbulence facing the sector, according to a leading figure in the offshore energy's trade body. Thibaut Cheret, wind and renewables manager at OEUK, told The Scotsman that while the programme of large-scale offshore wind developments faced challenges, key work was underway. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It comes as OEUK stressed the 'critical' need for a record increase in offshore wind capacity in order to meet the UK government's 2030 goal, with a new report by the body warning of a shortfall in capacity unless there is action taken to address price inflation, capital cost, and UK supply chain competitiveness. Such pressures were cited by the Danish firm, Ørsted - which is involved in ScotWind initiatives - when it scrapped its plans for the vast Hornsea 4 development off the East Yorkshire coast, a decision that has caused unease and nervousness throughout the wider industry. The Scottish Government 'reluctantly' used up to £460 million of money raised via the ScotWind scheme – where parts of the Scottish seabed are leased out for offshore wind farms | PA Only last week, The Scotsman reported that some ScotWind developers have asked Crown Estate Scotland to extend their current ten year option agreements by a further five years because current market conditions have made it challenging for them to meet their original targets. Asked if he was aware of developers looking to secure such extensions, Mr Cheret did not reference any individual companies or consortiums, but stressed that as a whole, the scale of ScotWind - in total, the 20 projects awarded in 2022 could provide nearly 30GW of new capacity - meant that it was best delivered stage by stage. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It makes sense to phase the process' He said: 'They will stay close to their discussions. ScotWind is so big, it makes sense to phase the process. It's better to have a nice steady pipeline, a ramp up, and then a nice steady pipeline. 'Rather than rushing things and you trip, it makes sense to phase the project. You will learn from the early ones who were able to take more risk.' Asked how acute the challenges facing offshore wind energy were for the raft of ScotWind projects, Mr Cheret pointed to issues surrounding grid connections and the need to carry out upgrades. The ScotWind leases will be developed by energy companies | NationalWorld He added that the proposed marine recovery fund - an industry-funded set of strategic measures to compensate for adverse effects of offshore wind developments on marine protected areas - would also help. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He added: 'Part of ScotWind is also floating wind, so we need to be able to ramp up resources for test and demonstration projects to step up and to learn. They need a specific way to go to market. 'With floating wind, we don't know what the best base is at the moment - we know what to put on top, but we need to understand the base design so we can mass produce.' UK set to fall short of 2030 target Mr Cheret was at the All Energy conference in Glasgow on Thursday to launch a new OEUK report which laid bare the challenges facing the UK government's ambitions to deliver clean power by 2030. It pointed out that while offshore wind installations would generate much of the future low carbon energy mix, unless the pace of change quickens, the UK stands to achieve only 35GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030, some way short of the target of between 43 and 51 GW. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr Cheret added: 'Meeting the government's 2030 target means securing £15 billion of private investment in offshore wind each and every year between now and 2030. The government's next contract for difference auction in allocation round seven (AR7), which incentivises new low carbon electricity generating projects, will need to secure historic levels of renewable energy procurement. 'With the flexibility to supply oil and gas installations or the national grid, floating offshore wind will become a critical tool for delivering Clean Power 2030 and beyond. Offshore wind leasing rounds released by Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) under the auspices of Crown Estate Scotland are helping decarbonise offshore oil and gas production whilst accelerating deployment of the first floating offshore wind project at commercial scale. 'As floating offshore wind projects will have access to windier areas in deeper waters around the UK, it is set to become the growth engine beyond 2030 with investment likely to overtake fixed-bottom wind in 2033. More than 50 years oil and gas experience means that our UK supply chain is well equipped to capture a sizable stake of the floating wind market, but a significant portion of the spend required is beyond the reach of many UK companies, which highlights the need for strategic investment in innovation, skills and infrastructure.' 'Force nine gale of events' The conference also heard from Chris Stark, head of mission control for Clean Power 2030 at the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, who said that there was a 'force nine gale of events happening around us,' and expressed disappointment at Danish firm Ørsted's move to scrap plans for a major offshore wind farm off East Ayrshire. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Addressing the same event, Professor Sir Jim McDonald, the principal of the University of Strathclyde, said an investment of around £40 billion a year in energy infrastructure was required between now and 2030.
Scotsman
13-05-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
Scotland's offshore wind ambitions are at an inflection point
The factors that led to Orsted ditching plans for a giant wind farm off the Yorkshire coast apply to Scotland too, writes Jeremy Grant Sign up to our Scotsman Money newsletter, covering all you need to know to help manage your money. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... When delegates gather in Glasgow this week for the 'All-Energy' conference – billed by its organisers as the UK's largest low-carbon energy and renewables event – those from Scotland's offshore wind sector will arrive feeling apprehensive. Three years ago, Crown Estate Scotland (CES) kicked off one of the world's largest pipelines of offshore wind projects, known as ScotWind, by awarding option agreements that can be turned into leases to build and operate wind farms. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Projects were scoped out amid a tailwind of optimism about the potential for offshore wind to power millions of homes. But recently that has been replaced by headwinds that expose the hubris in the industry's initial ambition for Scotland's offshore wind potential. Fixed-bottom wind farms are commercially proven, unlike floating turbines in deep waters (Picture:) Last week, Danish offshore wind giant Orsted made the shock announcement that it would discontinue Hornsea 4, one of the UK's largest offshore wind farms. It blamed increased supply chain costs, inflation and heightened risk. Don't be tempted to assume this is an English problem, given that Hornsea 4 is off the Yorkshire coast. This was a wider market signal. Most of the factors that led arguably the world's specialist in offshore wind to cancel a 2.4-gigawatt project in England are the same faced by Scottish projects of a similar scale such as Ossian, a 2.6GW ScotWind project owned by SSE Renewables, Marubeni of Japan and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Others include zonal pricing, a scheme under consideration by the UK Government that would divide the UK into regions, with local demand and supply factors setting prices. Advocates argue it would help smooth out the cost of paying to curtail wind output in Scotland when the grid cannot cope while opponents, including industry group Scottish Renewables, say it would create a 'postcode lottery' for energy bills and increase the cost of investing in renewable energy projects. Jeremy Grant is a freelance writer and former Financial Times journalist Another is the fact that 60 per cent of ScotWind envisages vast floating wind farms in deep waters. This is commercially unproven, unlike the fixed-bottom wind farms that you see dotted on ocean horizons now. Not all the news is bad. A day after Orsted's bombshell, Spanish energy group Iberdrola, owner of ScottishPower, said it had received a £600 million loan from the UK's National Wealth Fund to build two subsea transmission cables linking Scotland with England. Last month, the UK government made available £300 million in grant funding through GB Energy for businesses prepared to make long-term investments in building a UK offshore wind supply chain. Yet the feeling that we are at an inflection point is inescapable. I understand that some ScotWind developers have asked CES to extent their current ten-year option agreements by a further five, because current market conditions mean they can't meet their original targets. Other ScotWind investors may look to sell out of projects, now that a lock-up period preventing such exits ended last month. Shell and bp's retreat from renewables means their ScotWind projects look vulnerable. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In Glasgow, Chris Stark – a key figure in energy secretary Ed Miliband's team – is expected to give an update on the UK government's plan for 'Clean Power 2030'. Expect standing room only.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Despite headwinds, strong ambition remains on clean power targets for 2030
By Emma Moir, Senior Associate at Shepherd and Wedderburn WITH ambitious targets set for the transition to net zero by both the UK and Scottish Governments, the role of Scotland's offshore wind sector has never been more important. The recently published Clean Power 2030 Action Plan (CP30) reinforces the importance of the transition to clean power, and the urgency for more offshore wind, making it clear that delivery of the UK Government's ambition of up to 50GW of offshore wind 'requires a dramatic acceleration in progress compared to anything achieved historically and can only be achieved with a determined focus on pace and a huge collective effort across the industry.' The Scottish Government's ambition is to increase offshore wind capacity by 11GW by 2030. To put that into context, there are currently nine fully operational offshore wind farms in Scottish waters, with a total installed capacity of 2.97GW. Scotland therefore needs to almost quadruple its offshore wind infrastructure within the next five years. Projects currently with consent and to be constructed or under construction will provide approximately 3.5GW of capacity. It is therefore evident that the dramatic acceleration referred to in CP30 is essential to meet the ambitious targets set by Westminster and Holyrood. CP30 recognises the urgency of progressing the current pipeline to meet 2030 targets, noting that 'Accelerating delivery is exceptionally critical for offshore wind, where lead times for projects are often more than a decade. This means that all that can be deployed by 2030 has either already been consented or is in the development and consenting process.' The ScotWind leasing round provided a promising boost to Scotland's offshore wind sector, awarding seabed rights to 20 projects with a combined 27.6GW of capacity, and an additional 13 projects focused on reducing emissions from oil and gas production. Notwithstanding the pipeline that is there to be realised, the offshore wind industry is facing a number of challenges in achieving these targets: increasing costs, supply chain shortages, uncertainty over electricity market reforms and grid pricing increases, uncertainty over timing of upgrades required to the grid network to transmit the clean energy generated, and not least the time that it takes for projects to achieve consents. Taking the 4.1GW Berwick Bank project as an example, the offshore consent application was submitted in December 2022 and awaits a decision almost 2 and a half years on. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill was introduced into Parliament in March 2025 and seeks to streamline the Scottish electricity consents process. This reform is welcome, but what the Bill falls short of doing (notwithstanding a key recommendation of the Winser Report, on which much of the package of reforms is based, was mandatory timeframes for all parties) is prescribing statutory timescales for consent determinations, which would bring the Scottish system into alignment with the equivalent consenting process south of the border. The Bill provides that the Secretary of State or the Scottish Ministers may make regulations specifying a time limit for consent determination. There is, however, no guarantee that such regulations would be forthcoming. One hopes that the Scottish Ministers will utilise the powers to create time limits for decision-making, in turn creating a renewed focus on consenting appropriate projects quickly and driving realisation of a sustainable Scottish offshore wind industry. However, as it currently stands, it remains to be seen whether the promise of improved efficiency will come to fruition and, critically, whether the necessary reforms will be in place in time to meet the ever-looming deadline to achieve 2030 targets. ■ Shepherd and Wedderburn is headline sponsor of All-Energy, the UK's largest renewable and low-carbon energy exhibition and conference, taking place in Glasgow on 14–15 May 2025. Visit the All-Energy hub at
