A former UK energy minister said last night the Scottish Government was foolish to abandon nuclear power in favour of windfarms.
Brian Wilson, who served in former prime minister Tony Blair’s Cabinet and is now a UK business ambassador, added that any environmental benefits from renewable-energy would be cancelled out by the loss of nuclear power stations.
Mr Wilson, also chairman of Western Isles’ firm Harris Tweed Hebrides, was speaking at the annual Scottish Engineering Awards in Glasgow.
He said: “The three pillars of a sensible energy policy are security of supply, affordability and carbon reduction. These cannot be delivered by over-dependence on renewables alone.
“It is regrettable that the Scottish Government has turned its back on nuclear power, which has served Scotland well for 50 years.
“Part of the foolishness of this policy lies in the fact that whatever we do in renewables will, in carbon reduction terms, only cancel out what we are throwing away by rejecting nuclear power.
“Hunterston and Torness have done more for the Scottish economy than wind turbines ever will and it is a folly to reject their replacement.”
Mr Wilson also said promised employment and investment in Scottish manufacturing on the back of renewable projects “simply has not happened”.
He added: “Given the vast sums of taxpayers’ and consumers’ money which subsidises renewables, the remarkable thing is not how many jobs have been created, but how few.
Balmoral Comtec, part of Aberdeen-based Balmoral Group, was among six companies presented with president’s awards for outstanding achievement.
The north-east firm manufactures buoyancy and elastomer products for the offshore sector, serving markets in west Africa, the Gulf of Mexico, Asia-Pacific and Brazil.
Last night’s top award went to Falkirk-based bus builder Alexander Dennis in recognition of its efforts to promote the Scottish engineering sector during the past year.
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