Meeting of the Parliament 26 October 2017
I have said before that climate change is one of the defining issues of our age and, in the Highlands and Islands, loads of great work is being done to enable us to find low-carbon solutions to meet our energy needs. Harnessing our renewable energy potential could transform my region from a low-wage economy with a long history of migration to a high-wage economy that attracts people. I will illustrate that point with a couple of hydro and marine energy examples.
Water is an abundant resource where I come from. More than half Scotland’s hydroelectric schemes operate in the Highlands and Islands, and hydro power contributes about 12 per cent of Scotland’s electricity. We need to take the opportunities in my region and elsewhere in the country to expand our hydro power industry.
In Ullapool, where I grew up, the community has been working hard over the past few years to create its own successful hydro project. At the opening of Parliament last year, representatives from BroomPower were my local heroes. I am sure that the cabinet secretary and all my colleagues will join me in congratulating the volunteers on all their hard work and perseverance, which has now delivered the project on time and within budget.
The steep-sided glens in the Lael forest and the very reliable annual rainfall of 110cm make the burns just south of Ullapool pretty energetic, and the project has the Scottish Government’s backing. The opportunity arose from an invitation from Forestry Commission Scotland for communities to develop hydro projects on local, state-owned woodland through the national forest land scheme. Lochbroom Community Renewables raised funds to take forward the project with a community share offer that had the strapline, “Invest today, change tomorrow”. The project raised £900,000 from individuals and businesses last summer and, next month, Flo the turbine—that inspirational name was given by local schoolchildren—will be generating electricity. I look forward to going along to the switch-on in a few weeks.
The brilliant thing about BroomPower is not just that local folk who invested might make some money but that any surplus income from the scheme will be used for projects in the future. The community benefit fund will go on for the next 20 years.
Marine energy is another way in which the renewables industry in the Highlands and Islands can be a constructive part of the hydro nation. The Highlands and Islands are home to the Pentland Firth and the waters around Orkney, which has one of the most active tidal areas in the world. That area of sea off our north coast contains 50 per cent of the UK’s tidal resource and 25 per cent of Europe’s tidal resource, and it has an incredible potential for marine energy generation.
It is no wonder that Orkney is home to the world’s only grid-connected wave and tidal test site at the European Marine Energy Centre. We also have MeyGen in the Pentland Firth, which is a world leader in tidal energy deployment and set a new record in tidal stream power production earlier this year.
That is an exciting industry that has incredible potential. The abundant resource and the cross-fertilisation of private industry and academic research make Orkney a fine example of a living laboratory. The people who work there are ambassadors for Scottish marine energy worldwide.
We are so lucky in the Highlands and Islands and across Scotland to have such potential in our natural resources and, without doubt, water is central to that potential. The Government’s hydro nation agenda will make an important contribution to fulfilling that potential, which is great news for the Highlands and Islands and for Scotland.
16:17