Scotland’s name is generally associated with class acts like malt whisky, myriad tartans and the fabled haggis.
However, it is also increasingly being recognised as a global leader in renewable energy.
Representatives of other leading administrations – even California – have been quick to compliment that leading position.
But why has this come about, given that we are already rich in oil & gas resources? And where might these developments lead us?
The first point to note is that Scotland possesses a wealth of renewable resources. It is the leading country in Europe for wind, wave and tidal resources.
Scotland also has a well-developed hydro-power infrastructure of 1,400MW (megawatts) – a welcome legacy from the 1950s especially – while its forestry resources have the potential to develop a serious wood fuel industry.
Scotland’s wind resources are already well under development onshore, with more than 2,500MW operational at present.
This total will continue to grow as more projects are consented, many involving the local community as an active participant.
Aberdeenshire currently makes a contribution of around 108MW to this national total, with another 200MW consented including sizeable projects at Midhill and Clashindarroch.
The second point is that Scotland has the innovative drive to advance global thinking into new territory.
The world is closely watching the UK’s plans to plant some 7,000 or so wind turbines out at sea, which should be capable of generating up to a quarter of Britain’s electricity.
No one else in the world has such an ambitious programme.
The reason that the UK is in this leading position is based squarely on the expertise of our oil & gas industry.
The installation of two offshore wind turbines at the Beatrice oil platform – a project developed in Aberdeen – demonstrated that large turbines (these are 5MW each) in relatively deep waters by wind standards (50m) are a practical proposition. This project in essence has opened up the North Sea to large offshore wind farms.
Further evidence of Scottish innovation and global interest comes through Aberdeen’s plans for the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre off Aberdeen Bay.
This has excited industrial interest around the globe and turbine manufacturers from as far afield as China, Japan, and South Korea, as well as Europe and the US, are keen to participate in the project.
Its strategic significance has also been recognised by the European Union, which is contributing up to 40million euros in grant funding to help finance its construction.
Building on Scotland’s innovative profile, a number of turbine companies have lately announced that they will be establishing research centres in Scotland: Mitsubishi in Edinburgh; Gamesa in Glasgow; and Doosan at their existing site at Renfrew.
Such inward investment is most welcome, and testament to the efforts of the Scottish Government to attract overseas companies to set up businesses here.
Holyrood’s commitment is certainly a third factor that is helping to define Scotland’s position on the global renewable energy map.
This government is the first in the world to legislate for carbon reduction and has being proactive in promoting the development of offshore wind, as described above.
Scotland is tapping into European thinking on the establishment of an international super-grid, of the kind needed to transfer power generated on the western margins of the EU into the major cities at its heart.
Looking beyond offshore wind, the Scottish Government has also supported the development of wave and tidal technology.
Orkney, for example, is home to the world’s leading test centre for wave and tidal machines, while Scottish legislation provides the most generous reward system for such technologies within the UK.
Scotland also held the first leasing round for wave and tidal sites – around the Orkneys and the Pentland Firth.
This produced bids for 1,600MW of projects from a range of industrial interests, and these are now in the process of moving from the drawing board into prototypes for installation offshore.
So in the coming years, we may expect to see a new industrial sector relating to wave and tidal technologies, again based on Scottish innovation and industrial acumen.
Lest I be accused of wearing rose-tinted spectacles, there are two aspects of renewable energy where I feel that Scotland still has to catch up with its European neighbours.
The first is wood-fuelled generation and heat provision, which is quite the norm in Scandinavian countries and in Austria.
Scotland has a wealth of forest resources that could be used towards heating the country’s buildings, particularly given that conventional heating methods account for over half of the energy used in Scotland. Aberdeen is starting to move in this direction, supported over the past four years by the efforts of the Grampian Biomass Working Group.
The city council’s new headquarters at Marischal College and the main hospital at Foresterhill are to be heated by wood fuel, while talks are already underway with Aberdeen Airport to introduce this initiative.
In Aberdeenshire, a number of schools have been converted to biomass heating and the region is also home to two of Scotland’s wood pellet production facilities.
But so much more can and should be done.
The introduction of new UK legislation later this year – the Renewable Heat Incentive – will help to achieve a change of pace.
Any organisation considering replacing its heating plant should certainly make itself aware of this new incentive to switch to renewable heating such as wood fuel, heat pumps or solar thermal.
The second area where more effort is needed is to get more renewable energy into Scotland’s transportation systems.
Organisations could be rewarded for switching their mileages from fossil fuels to electric or hydrogen vehicles.
In Germany, five cities already operate hydrogen buses, and there are also a number being run by First Group in London.
These facilities are, of course, expensive because they are the first of their kind, but they have received financial support from the EU as pilot projects.
The Scottish and UK Governments need to start to thinking about how to introduce a Renewable Transport Incentive.
This would reward organisations which switch their transport mileage on to renewable systems, therefore mirroring the Renewable Heat Incentive.
It is also important that a number of exemplar projects are set up in Scotland, funded by EU finance.
One such scheme, which has been discussed by the East Coast Renewables group, is the possibility of hydrogen buses running in cities and in Scotland’s east coast corridor.
I certainly hope to see hydrogen buses running on the streets of Aberdeen in years to come.
So where will all these renewable energy developments lead us?
They will lead us – simply – to a new era of industrial development, with associated employment opportunities for our working population.
Moreover, I would have no hesitation in recommending to any young person that they consider a career in renewable energy.
It will be a massively expanding sector of the economy in decades to come.
Much is happening, much will happen and much remains to be done.
The future for our nation is an exciting one and one which has a large element of renewable energy at its core.
Iain Todd is the renewables champion at Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG)
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