Holyrood energy minister Paul Wheelhouse has called on the UK Government to match Scotland’s commitment to renewables.
Mr Wheelhouse insisted the Scottish Government has a “strong” record on supporting the green energy sector but said there was a “need to question the UK Government’s commitment to renewables”.
Some 14,000 people are employed in “highly-skilled jobs” in the industry, which produced a turnover of £5.4 billion in 2014.
The Scottish Government’s draft energy strategy, to be published next week, will build on the commitment of SNP ministers to renewable energy, Mr Wheelhouse said.
He urged the UK Government to adopt a similar stance by putting investment in renewables at the “very heart” of its forthcoming industrial strategy.
Mr Wheelhouse said: “The Scottish Government is absolutely determined to ensure that Scotland’s renewable energy sector continues to grow because of the clear and very substantial economic benefits it brings to communities and the country as a whole.
“Crucially, the sector also plays a vital role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, underpinning our work to fight climate change through decarbonising our electricity generation by offsetting the need to burn fossil fuels.”
The energy minister added: “Our record on supporting renewables is strong – and further evidence of our commitment will come in the draft energy strategy that I will publish next week.
“Scotland’s renewable sector, and all who work in it or who supply the sector, need the same level of commitment from the UK Government which, despite our repeated calls, has failed to match our level of ambition and indeed since the 2015 general election they have cut support dramatically for hydro and wind energy projects.”
Mr Wheelhouse continued: “For our renewable industry to thrive, and to continue to contribute economic growth and tax revenues, the UK Government must acknowledge the compelling economic arguments for continued investment and support.
“Scotland has a pipeline of consented projects awaiting final investment decisions. I would like to see these projects, which would provide hundreds of millions of pounds of engineering and construction activity, developed at the earliest opportunity and at the lowest cost to the consumer.
“We now need the UK Government to ensure projects have a route to market and remove the uncertainty around timing and eligibility across sectors, including Remote Island Wind, onshore wind, wave and tidal, while there is no price stabilisation mechanism for pumped hydro storage energy as yet either.
“We need to question the UK Government’s commitment to renewables as a result. They have the opportunity to put an end to this uncertainty by placing renewable investment at the very heart of their long-awaited Industrial Strategy.”
A spokeswoman for the UK Government’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) department said: “We are fully committed to a low-carbon future and the Office for Budget Responsibility recently projected that £8.4 billion will be spent on renewable projects in the UK in 2020/21.
“We are one of the best countries in the world at tackling climate change with £52 billion invested in renewable projects in the UK since 2010. Last November we reaffirmed our commitment to spend £730 million of annual support on renewable electricity projects over this parliament.”
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