The Scottish government has urged London to address “unfair and disproportionate” grid charges for wind farms north of the border ahead of this year’s Allocation Round 8.
Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy Gillian Martin said a “level playing field” was needed on the current TNUoS regime to avoid a repeat of AR7.
While both SSE’s 1.4GW Berwick Bank B and CIP’s 93MW Pentland wind farms were successful in securing Contracts for Difference from the auction this month, other eligible schemes did not bid.
Martin told Scottish Renewables Offshore Wind Conference in Glasgow this morning (28 January) the AR7-winning schemes are a “positive step to ensuring industry growth and success” in Scotland, but that she “wants to see more (capacity) coming through” in future rounds.
Long-term reforms to TNUoS are being examined by London and could be implemented by 2029. However, more urgent change is needed to “maintain momentum” in the Scottish sector, warned Martin.
“We continue to urge the UK government to work with us to address shared concerns,” she said.
“Decarbonisation won’t happen without Scotland.
“I am obviously very pleased about Berwick Bank and Pentland, but I would like to see more.”
Martin told delegates that Holyrood was “playing its part” to provide a “stable supporting policy framework and regulatory environment” for developers and investors including the launch of an updated Scottish Policy Statement that aims to achieve 40GW of new capacity by 2040.
She said a Scottish Marine Recovery Fund to provide strategic compensation measures would also ensure “the green energy transition is a transition that works for all and has the confidence of every sector”.
Martin added: “The supply chain needs to see that order book growing.
“There needs to be policy certainty and projects driven through that are ready to go.”