The government needs to take action if the UK’s renewable sector is to maintain its position as a world leader, Scottish Renewables has warned.
Writing to Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, ahead of next month’s Autumn Statement, Scottish Renewables set out the need for an urgent strategy that can create investor confidence and attractiveness, while also highlighting key renewable energy technologies where action is needed. High inflation and capital costs have put significant pressure on clean energy projects and their associated supply chains. In Scotland, for example, offshore windfarms have proven to be 20% more expensive than their English counterparts, driven by outdated Transmission Network Use of System charges (TNUoS).
Chief Executive, Claire Mack, explained: “Our industry is increasingly under threat from international competition for the supply chains, financing and skilled workers needed to build a net-zero economy.” Mack highlighted the Inflation Reduction Act in the USA and REPowerEU plan in Europe, both of which threaten to pull private investment away from the UK. Mack continued: “Timely and decisive action is therefore urgently required to create the stable policy environment essential for building long-term, international investor confidence in Scotland and the UK’s renewable energy industry.”
In the letter to Hunt, therefore, Scottish Renewables labelled changes to the TNUoS as “essential” and also stressed the need to reform the Electricity Generator Levy, explaining how it has been applied “indiscriminately” to companies that were not making profits when electricity prices have been high. In Scotland specifically, Scottish Renewables is also calling for funding to upgrade Scotland’s ports and ensure they are reading for an incoming “offshore wind boom” as well as to drive forward a financial mechanism to facilitate the development of pumped-storage hydropower. This, it said, could create almost 15,000 jobs and generate £5.8bn for the UK economy by 2035.
