Scotland's renewables ambition threatened by Westminster rules, MPs hear

Members of the Scottish Affairs Committee met this afternoon to hear from leading figures in the renewables sector as the nation looks toward a greener future.

Scotland is aiming to reach net-zero emissions by 2045. The country has won praise for its approach to energy – in 2020, renewables met 97% of electricity demand, with most powered by onshore wind, followed by hydro and offshore.

Scottish ministers also hope to increase the amount of power generated by offshore wind tenfold by 2030.

READ MORE: Renewables: Scotland's green energy sector supports 22,000 jobs, figures reveal

However those in the sector say more needs to done between government and industry to allow Scotland to achieve those targets over the next decades.

Today at Westminster, MPs were told of how Scotland and parts of the north of England are being “penalised to the tune of tens of millions of pounds every year” by historic Westminster rules governing how the electricity network is paid for.

Transmission Network Use of System (TNUoS) charges set by the UK Government in 1992 recover the cost of installing and maintaining the electricity transmission system across the four nations.

But Scottish Renewables, who released a new report today, say times have changed significantly since they were designed, leading to “volatile and unpredictable” charges “penalising Scottish renewable energy projects”.

The agency says the UK Government should act, or the system will become worse for consumers and net-zero hopes.

“Put simply, TNUoS charges make Scottish offshore wind farms 20% more expensive than those in English waters,” the agency’s chief executive Claire Mack said.

"While an average 1GW Scottish offshore wind project would pay £38 million a year to use the electricity network, an identical wind farm in the congested seas off England’s south coast would receive a £7 million payment for the same service."

A map from Scottish Renewables shows the charges levied across UK 

“Scotland has 25% of Europe's offshore wind resource and to effectively lock it out of the UK energy market because of an inability to see past regulations which were drawn up in the early 1990s, when the energy system was totally different, is enormously destructive,” she argued.

“In addition, penalising the whole of the northern UK, which has some of the best renewable energy resource in Europe, runs entirely contrary to the Government’s levelling-up commitments, through which it has vowed to tackle precisely this type of economic imbalance.”

The UK Government’s white paper on energy states that the technical and commercial rules of the energy system require an “overhaul”, otherwise the UK could be left with a system “which makes less effective investment and operational decisions, resulting in excessive costs for consumers or a failure to reduce emissions in line with our net-zero target”.

A spokesperson for Ofgem told The National:  “Ofgem is committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions at the lowest cost to consumers while making sure generators pay proportionate costs for using the network.

“The current transmission charges mean that large generators that are further from demand pay more reflecting the higher costs of transporting the energy they generate a longer distance. At the same time, energy consumers in Scotland generally pay less, because they are closer to the source of generation.

“There are significant wind generation projects both in development and under construction in Scotland, suggesting that Scottish renewables are an attractive investment. However, we recognise the critical importance of renewables in achieving net-zero, which is why as part of our broader work we are considering whether transmission charging arrangements are right for the future”.