Meeting of the Parliament 11 November 2015
I, too, congratulate Mike MacKenzie on securing this important debate and I join him in acknowledging and welcoming the work that Scottish Renewables has done through the launch of its new storage network and the publication of “Energy Storage: The Basics”.
As has been said, we pretty regularly debate in the Parliament the issue of energy, but the focus is invariably on generation—usually electricity generation—rather than the wider contribution of heat and transport. In turn, that has led to claims that demand reduction and energy efficiency are the Cinderella of the energy debate. However, I am not sure that energy storage does not have a more compelling claim to that dubious honour. Invariably, it is a postscript to a speech here and there. It is an apparent afterthought that is worthy of acknowledgment but of no serious discussion in the overall energy debate. That is a failing on our part, and I am pleased that we have an opportunity—albeit a brief one—to begin to redress the balance and give storage its proper place.
As others have said, storage is central to achieving our renewable energy ambitions. As we strive to meet ever-more challenging targets en route to decarbonising our energy system, storage solutions will play an ever-more critical role. WWF strongly emphasised that point in its briefing for the debate. WWF also legitimately argued that the United Kingdom energy market does not provide an adequate funding system for storage projects, which should be a priority for development. To be fair, that has been a failing of successive Governments north and south of the border, but we can ill afford to see it continue.
That is not to say that we are operating from a standing start. Scottish Renewables has helpfully set out a range of activity that is under way in Scotland, from the long-standing pumped water storage operations at Cruachan—a direct legacy of Tom Johnston, who has rightly been eulogised by many members—to a more recent project in my Orkney constituency, where collaboration between Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has seen the UK’s first large-scale battery connected to help to ease grid constraints and allow for more renewable generation. I am also excited by the progress of the surf and turf initiative on Eday, which is deploying renewables to generate hydrogen that is then used to provide electricity for ferries when they are tied up in the harbour. Those examples underscore the potential and the fundamental importance of storage in allowing us to connect more renewables capacity, deliver security of supply and empower communities and consumers.
Perhaps one of the reasons why there has been a tendency to overlook the contribution that storage can and must make in our efforts to decarbonise our energy system is the sheer range of storage types, which vary in scale and stage of development. Heriot-Watt University’s energy academy, which was referred to earlier, illustrates the point well by explaining that
“heat and electricity storage will be required at timescales from seconds to years, and from small, battery scale, to grid-level solutions.”
I was interested to read about the partnership approach that that academy is taking, which involves bringing together different disciplines and facilitating collaboration across industries, research centres and other organisations. After the visit to Orkney last week by Heriot-Watt’s new principal, Professor Richard Williams, I hope that there is more that the team at the international centre for island technology can contribute to the academy’s work, in conjunction with the world-class cluster of renewable energy-related businesses that are to be found in Orkney. Of particular interest is the academy’s work on demand management systems, which could reduce the price of electricity, and the use of virtual power plants to integrate renewable energy resources and demand in remoter communities.
As we come to rely increasingly on renewable energy, we need to recognise that that reliance rests heavily on the flexibility and security that only storage solutions can provide. WWF calls on all political parties to embrace that vision, which the Scottish Liberal Democrats certainly do. It is time that Cinderella storage got her invitation to the green energy ball.
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