CONSULTATION OPENS WAY FOR WEALTHIER and GREENER SCOTLAND

CONSULTATION OPENS WAY FOR WEALTHIER and GREENER SCOTLAND

Commenting on reports that a consultation by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in London has concluded that electricity transmission charges should be levied evenly on all developers regardless of where they are located or the difficulty of connecting SNP MSP Rob Gibson – Vice-Convener of the Scottish Parliament's Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee - said:

"I hope the UK government takes heed of this conclusion by one of their own departments. It is discriminatory that electricity produced in Scotland would end up subsidising electricity generated in the south of England. Scotland's renewables potential gives us a massive opportunity to not only create a greener Scotland but a wealthier Scotland.

“The ludicrous system of transmission charges Ofgem want to impose is clearly a barrier that can act against the development of Scotland's huge renewable energy potential.

“With 4.2 gigawatts generated in the Highlands already waiting to get access to the National Grid I would hope that the UK government will now show some urgency to change these charges.

If we are to meet these targets urgent action is needed to scrap this system and introduce a fairer equal access scheme.

“Scotland has the strongest climate change legislation in the world but transmission charges are a reserved matter and I hope the conclusions of this consultation will see the UK Government press Ofgem to take action immediately.

“This issue needs to be addressed to ensure renewable energy from Scotland contributes even more to meeting renewable energy targets across the British Isles and Europe.”