A group of cross-party MSPs came together over the issue of Scottish onshore wind at Holyrood today, an energy industry trade body has revealed.
Scottish Renewables said MSPs from Scottish Labour, Greens, Liberal Democrats and the SNP joined the organisation to promote Onshore Wind Week.
The politicians, including Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse, joined industry body Scottish Renewables and ScottishPower Renewables, among many others, to show their support for the sector.
Organisations present included EDF Renewables, CS Wind, Locogen, Senvion, and Innogy.
According to figures on Scottish Renewables website, onshore wind generates 67% of the country’s renewable electricity and employs 5,800 people in Scotland.
A new poll released last month by the UK department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) showed a growth in public attitude from 76% in 2018 to 79% in 2019.
But whereas onshore wind is a common sight in Scotland, England allows local communities to veto projects in their region.
Claire Mack, chief executive of Scottish Renewables, said: “The potential for economic growth through onshore wind development is huge, particularly as our oldest projects begin to approach the end of their lives and we start to look at how they can continue to provide green electricity into the future.
“MSPs today met some of the highly-skilled people who work in onshore wind, often in remote locations where opportunities for such work are rare.
“Supporting this sector means backing those jobs and allowing onshore wind to continue doing what it does best: providing clean energy alongside enormous economic and social benefits across Scotland.”
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