Meeting of the Parliament 06 December 2016
Mr Stevenson is absolutely right. I bow to his experience in his previous role as Minister for Environment and Climate Change. I know that he has experienced the constant chopping and changing of UK policy, which undermines long-term investment. Island wind projects are, obviously, long-term investments with huge capital costs up front.
The only justification given for the change of heart is the 2015 Conservative manifesto commitment to end support for onshore wind. Apparently, Andrea Leadsom’s September 2015 commitment to seek a state aid case with the European Commission is now history. However, the Scottish Government is clear that the case for treating island wind as a separate technology from onshore wind has already been made. The UK Government promised Scotland that we would be better together but—I do not make this as a constitutional point—even after years of unprecedented co-operation on the subject and what we genuinely thought was a productive partnership between our two Governments, it seems that Scotland is unable to count on the UK Government to deliver on its word.
The lack of communication and the delay and indecision on the part of the UK Government have undermined the delivery forum’s work. Since the forum’s last meeting more than a year ago, Scottish ministers and island councils have written repeatedly to the UK Government but have received no positive response. The timing of the consultation is particularly disappointing, given the UK Government’s knowledge of the tight timetable for delivering the projects. Even if we persuade the UK Government of the validity of its own evidence, it is now highly unlikely that the island projects will be able to compete in the April 2017 auction.
The Scottish Government remains committed to the shared ambition that we developed in partnership with the UK Government to deliver island wind and capture its benefits. We take some encouragement from the assurance given by Baroness Neville-Rolfe, the Minister of State for Energy and Intellectual Property, that the consultation is genuine. I genuinely hope that it is, but we call on the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Greg Clark, to re-engage with the delivery forum and to stand by the strong case that it has helped to develop for island wind. Although I fully acknowledge the Scottish Government’s important role in the matter, it is the UK Government’s responsibility to deliver on the political promises that it has made to the island councils and developers who have continued to invest in the projects in good faith.
The wave and tidal sectors feel similarly let down following the UK Government’s announcement on CFD. I am immensely proud—as I am sure many, if not all, members are—of the marine energy industry in Scotland. The sector has progressed more in 2016 than in any previous year, and Scottish firms are in a dominant position, as was discussed at last week’s Scottish green energy awards ceremony. Edinburgh firm Nova Innovation has deployed the first two turbines of the Shetland tidal array at Bluemull Sound; Atlantis Resources has almost completed construction of the first phase of the MeyGen project; and Orkney-based Scotrenewables has begun testing the world’s most powerful 2MW tidal turbine device at our flagship European Marine Energy Centre. In that triumphant moment for the marine energy sector, it is extremely disappointing that the UK Government is threatening the growth of that innovative sector by refusing to provide ring-fenced support for wave and tidal stream technologies.
I and my officials will have discussions with the UK Government so that we can agree a way forward for the marine energy industry. I will also convene a round table of representatives from the marine energy sector later this month to hear their priorities and their suggestions for initiatives that we might take to support them.