Scottish Renewables Comments on Institution of Mechanical Engineers Report

Niall Stuart, Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, said:

 On the target to meet the equivalent of 100% of demand from renewable electricity by 2020:

 “There are more than enough projects in operation and in the pipeline to hit the 100 per cent target. It really is this simple: if we build enough generation capacity, we will get there.

 “Renewables already meets around a third of Scotland’s electricity needs with some 4,500MW in operation, and the industry has plans for 17,000MW of new projects – more than enough to achieve the target.

 “That scale of development is ambitious but it is achievable if we get the right grid connections, the right market framework and the right balance in the planning system to bring in the investment required.

 “The growth of renewables is a massive opportunity for Scotland’s engineering sector, with global demand for skills and expertise in areas such as offshore wind, wave and tidal energy.

On the target to meet the equivalent of 30% of all energy demand from renewables by 2020:

“Heat and transport are the main drivers of energy consumption, however, the easiest ways to move these sectors away from fossil fuels is through increased use of electric heating and vehicles, which is one of the reasons why there has been such a focus on renewable electricity.

 “There is also likely to be a major deployment of renewable heat over coming years, not least through the deployment of biomass by industry, and renewable alternatives to gas and oil for domestic heating, especially off the gas grid.”

 On costs:

“Consumers have seen increases of around £190 on their dual fuel bills over the last year because of hikes in the price of gas. This is almost ten times the impact of support for renewables on bills. As the report states, gas prices are the biggest pressure on energy bills and failure to diversify will leave us exposed to future increases.

 “Introducing an increasing amount of renewables into our energy mix will in fact stabilise energy bills in the future, with experts predicting significant reductions in the costs of all forms of renewable energy in coming years.”

[mappress]

Source: scottishrenewables, November 04, 2011