Future UK Government budgets for offshore wind are unlikely to support Scotland’s ambitions to develop the industry, the first minister has said.
Nicola Sturgeon has called on the government to act now to provide confidence to the sector by increasingboost budget allocations to allow offshore wind to be delivered on a far greater scale.
Sturgeon’s plea comes after the results of the first contracts for difference auction were announced last week.
The auction awarded 15-year contracts which guarantee a price for the power generated as part of the government’s plan to encourage renewable energy.
Cheap and popular solar power has lost out in an auction of contracts for green energy projects worth more than £315 million, the industry has claimed.
The first auction of its kind has awarded subsidies, paid from consumer bills, to 27 renewable electricity projects which together could power 1.4 million homes - equivalent to all the households in Wales.
But just five solar farms, which were competing with other “established“ technologies such as onshore wind and hydro for a share of a £50 million pot, have secured contracts for 71 megawatts (MW) of power.
Fifteen onshore wind farms, providing 10 times as much capacity (749MW), have secured subsidies in the auction.
Offshore wind was competing as a less mature technology in a separate part of the auction which accounted for the majority of the £315 million, and secured contracts for two wind farms with a combined capacity of 1,162MW.
Plans for a major offshore wind farm have suffered a setback after failing to land a UK Government funding deal.
Moray Offshore Renewables Limited (MORL) missed out on a deal on a subsidy which would have guaranteed the price at which it sold electricity for a 15-year period.
Formal consent for the project in the Moray Firth, off the coast of Caithness, was granted by the Scottish Government in March last year.
MORL plans to build up to 62 turbines of 6MW to 8MW capacity on each of three sites.
A 448-megawatt project in the Firth of Forth, Neart na Gaoithe, was instead successful in today’s contracts announcement from the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) - the only Scottish offshore wind farm on the list.
The main advisory body for the marine energy industry has called for a rethink of the way government funding is dished out to the struggling wave and tidal sector.
In a new report, the Marine Energy Programme Board (MEPB) stressed the need for sustained financial support to commercialise the sector, as well as a “joint vision” of the industry’s future.
The industry, which employs about 1,700 people, has suffered numerous setbacks in recent months.
In December, Edinburgh-based Aquamarine Power said it would “downsize” its business after posting losses of £16.5million for the year to March 31, and a month earlier wave-power firm Pelamis went into administration after failing to secure enough funding for research and development.
Ministers have refused planning consent for a wind farm in Dumfries and Galloway that would have an “unacceptable” impact on the landscape.
Sandy Knowe Wind Farm limited had applied for permission to build 30 turbines with a capacity of up to 90mw to the south-west of Kirkconnel and Kelloholm.
Scottish Natural Heritage had raised serious concerns about the cumulative impact the development would have on the landscape and views in the Upper Nithsdale area.
An offshore wind project which could support up to 900 jobs and millions of pounds of investment has been given the go-ahead.
The Dogger Bank Creyke Beck A and B wind project will include up to 400 wind turbines around 130 kilometre off the coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire.
With a maximum capacity of 2400MW it will generate enough electricity to power almost two million homes once built.
A hydro-electric power scheme near Crianlarich will be the first beneficiary of a £60million fund for community-scale renewables projects across the UK.
Business Secretary Vince Cable will launch the fund today in Edinburgh at the headquarters of the Green Investment Bank (GIB).
The bank, along with the Strathclyde Pension Fund (SPF) have backed the fund which will be managed by Albion Community Power (ACP).
The number of solar panel installations throughout the UK has almost doubled in a year, as householders and communities increasingly grasp the chance to generate their own power.
There are now almost 650,000 installations ranging from large-scale solar farms in fields to schemes on homes, schools and police stations, with electricity-generating photovoltaic (PV) panels on one in every 50 households in Britain.
Industry body the Solar Trade Association’s chief executive, Paul Barwell, puts the popularity of solar down to falling product costs, easy technology and financial benefits, with home owners receiving “feed-in tariff” payments for power generated.
SgurrEnergy has continued its North American expansion with the launch of its San Francisco office.
California has the second highest installed wind capacity in the USA with more than 5.8GW. It also boasts more than 8.5GW of solar power.
Judges at the UK Supreme Court have dismissed an appeal against plans to build a large-scale wind farm in the Shetland Islands.
Environmental campaigners at Sustainable Shetland challenged a decision to allow more than 100 turbines to be installed across three different areas on the islands.
The group argued that when the Scottish Government backed the plans for the Viking wind farm project, which could provide energy for up to 175,000 homes, it failed to take into account “positive obligations” under European Union environmental legislation to protect the rare whimbrel bird and bring its population levels up to “favourable conservation status".
Swedish energy firm Vattenfall said Friday it is set to appoint a liquidator to wind up its failed wave power company, but vowed to dip its toes back into Scottish waters if conditions improve.
Aegir Wave Power (AWP) was set up in 2009 as part of a joint venture between Vattenfall and renewable energy company Pelamis with the aim of developing commercial wave farms off Shetland.
But the plan was pulled in November when Pelamis, whose generators were to be used by AWP, went into administration after failing to secure enough funding to develop its devices.
The Supreme Court will deliver its verdict on a controversial windfarm on Shetland on Monday.
Sustainable Shetland is fighting a decision by Scottish Ministers to approve the 103 turbine Viking windfarm.
The long-running legal wrangle began when Sustainable Shetland brought a judicial review against the Scottish government’s decision in April 2012 to grant consent for the windfarm, which is jointly-owned by Shetland Charitable Trust, Scottish Southern Energy and four local businessmen.
Last year, a CHC helicopter made a remarkable journey. And a little over a month ago, it arrived in Europe’s oil capital.
With an already established presence around the world, CHC operates from 11 international bases with 50 aircrafts frequently circling the skies.
Ashtead Technology is set to team up with Norwegian subsea equipment specialist Innova.
The partnership will see the Aberdeen-headquartered subsea technology company provide customers with Innova products, including high specification hydraulic gear, fibre optic cards and data logging equipment.
Scottish Government plans to manage and protect Scotland’s seas are not yet “fit for purpose”, according to a Holyrood committee.
The draft National Marine Plan for Scotland has been developed over five years and was published last month.
It aims to balance the development of established industries such as oil, gas and fishing with emerging sectors such as marine renewables and carbon capture and storage.
Solar power almost doubled in the last year, with 650,000 installations ranging from solar farms to panels on homes, figures showed.
By the end of 2014 there was almost 5 gigawatts (5GW) of solar photovoltaic panels installed, up from 2.8GW at the end of 2013, the Department of Energy and Climate Change figures showed.
The solar industry said there were now enough panels installed in the UK to supply the equivalent of 1.5 million homes.
North Sea nations will hold the key in Europe’s transition to a low-carbon economy but political ambition will be essential.
A report by Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage (SCCS) made the analysis as it issued a report which calls for specific policy support and wider political ambition within the EU.
The European Commission will meet stakeholders today in Edinburgh to discuss a strategic vision for energy infrastructure in the North Sea basin.
Residents from a village which was at the centre of huge anti-fracking protests have seen the completion of their first community-owned solar panel project.
A total of 69 panels have been installed on a cow-shed as part of a long-term plan to generate enough power to match the entire electricity use of Balcombe in West Sussex.
Thousands of protesters converged on Balcombe in the summer of 2013 after energy firm Cuadrilla started exploratory drilling for oil, sparking fears that it would go on to frack there.
Scotland’s Energy Minister Fergus Ewing hopes four major wind arrays in the firths of Forth and Tay will be built despite a major legal challenge to their development.
Bird protection charity RSPB Scotland sent shockwaves through the sector in Scotland earlier this month after a last-minute move to seek judicial review of Mr Ewing’s decision to grant consents for the Neart na Gaoithe, Inch Cape and Seagreen Alpha and Bravo arrays.
It is understood the RSPB’s application will come before the courts for the first time in late May and there are concerns within the industry the legal process will prove both costly and lengthy.
The Força Eólica do Brasil consortium have awarded Gamesa a contract to supply 42 state-of-the-art wind turbines to the three wind farms in Brazil.
Gamesa will install the G114 wind turbines with a unit capacity of two megawatts (MW) at the windfarms and will be in charge of supplying, transporting, installing and commissioning 15 wind
turbines for the Santana 1 windfarm.
BRE Wales & South West along with a consortium of partners have won funding from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to boost innovation in the heat network industry.
A number of proposals were successful under the competition and will be allocated a share of £1million to carry out feasibility studies on their proposed innovation.
The consortium which includes BRE, Barden Energy, Bizcat UK, Elgocell, the Home Group (and some of its Cumbrian tenants), will use the capital to look at how viable it is to create a super-efficient district heating network in low rise social housing using innovative Swedish technology.
The north-east can become a carbon capture and storage (CCS) “powerhouse” of Europe, benefiting from job creation and other economic rewards as the fledgling industry takes off, seminar delegates will hear today.
Chaired by Aberdeen Harbour Board chief executive Colin Parker, the event throws the spotlight on new CCS opportunities facing the region as it battles to overcome a big slump in oil prices.
But it will also highlight concerns about the dangers of any sluggish action from Westminster in getting projects off the ground.
Companies with technologies that can cut the cost of oil and gas production will be highlighted in a new showcase at the subsea industry’s leading event this year.
In an effort to demonstrate how recent innovations can help operators and oil services firms reduce costs, Subsea Expo will provide a platform for organisations to introduce, discuss and demonstrate their latest innovations.
Chaired by Dr Gordon Drummond, project director for the National Subsea Research Initiative (NSRI), the session will give a dozen companies ten minutes in the spotlight to outline their innovation and potential applications.
Subsea products and equipment manufacturer Ennsub has finished sealing work on a platform in Australia.
The Aberdeen head-quartered firm worked on the design, manufacture, testing and installation and sealing systems for the Wheatstone Liquefied Natural Gas platform off the Australian coast.
