Runs @theseislands.bsky.social. “cannot stand the awesome reality of Scotland’s energy wealth” - Alex Salmond. Posting in a personal capacity.
Sam Taylor
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Scot Gov does own (indirectly, via SNIB) a minority stake in a wind farm currently being developed. When complete, the electricity it produces will cost £216/MWh (uprated for inflation) for 20 years. That is ~3x higher than the wholesale electricity price in current price cap.
In January, DESNZ published an update to its 2023 cost of renewables figures, skewering Scot Gov claims that Scottish renewables are “low-cost”. Civil servants are working on a briefing for ministers on these figures, but it won’t be done until after the election. How convenient.
Some seem to think powers over energy would be a stepping stone to Scot Gov nationalising energy. They clearly haven’t been paying attention to the ferries. Who wants an energy provider that delivers no energy for a decade, and then charges you 5x more than you were expecting?
2/ He’ll say because Scotland’s renewables are low cost. They are not. CfD Allocation Round 7, which happened earlier this year, priced Scottish offshore wind at £89/MWh (fixed) and £216/MWh (floating) - higher than the ~£80/MWh wholesale price in current Ofgem price cap.
1/ Totally unserious. But journalists should take it seriously and ask Swinney this: if Scotland had to bear the full costs of Scottish assets - which is what this would mean - how could that possibly cut bills in Scotland?
The implications of this for Scottish independence are, of course, significant. If Scotland had to bear the full costs of CfD top-ups for Scottish wind farms - and if you want independence, that’s what independence *is* - the consequences for Scottish households would be ruinous.
