ARGYLL AND BUTE SUCCESSFULLY LOBBIES FOR FAIRER ENERGY TRANSMISSION CHARGES

A senior Argyll and Bute councillor has returned delighted from a conference in Sweden, having persuaded a major European body to support his calls for a fairer renewables transmission charging system.

Councillor Len Scoullar, Argyll and Bute’s Islands and European Affairs spokesperson, won support from the General Assembly of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) in his battle to ensure the Highlands and Islands are not disadvantaged by high power transmission charges.

For several years, the UK energy market regulator, Ofgem, has been accused of maintaining a system which unfairly penalises anyone seeking to generate and export wind, wave and tidal power in the Highlands and Islands.

The current rules force generators in remote areas far from population centres to pay more to transmit their power than gas, coal or nuclear plants near cities have to pay to transmit the power they generate.

However, Councillor Scoullar has now ensured that the full weight of the CPMR is behind his campaign to secure a change in the charging system.

“Argyll and Bute, along with the rest of the Highlands and Islands, has the best resources for the generation of renewable power in the United Kingdom,” Councillor Scoullar said.

“However, up until now, anyone wanting to transmit clean, green, renewable energy from this area has been penalised, despite the locations being dictated by our geography, weather and tidal conditions.

“The fact that renewable generators in this area are facing the highest charges in the UK potentially has a significant impact on the development of renewables projects in the Highlands and Islands. Power generators are obviously going to be reluctant to provide sub-sea interlinks, for instance, if they are not economically viable because of the unfairly high cost of using them.”

The European Commission’s renewables directive explicitly states that transmission charges should not discriminate against electricity from renewable energy sources – and in particular sources produced in peripheral regions such as islands, and in regions of low population density.

Councillor Scoullar said: “The current system in the United Kingdom is patently violating this directive, the potential consequences of which are a loss of inward investment and employment in some of Scotland’s most peripheral regions.

“Argyll and Bute is fast becoming the powerhouse not just of Scotland but of the UK in terms of renewable energy, and I am delighted to have secured the support of the CPMR in the battle to address this unacceptable situation.

“This Council has lobbied on this issue for more than two years including, of course, making strong representations to Ofgem.

“The powers that be are going to have to recognise – hopefully sooner rather than later – that this is an unjust situation which cannot be allowed to continue.”