A 20-YEAR fight for a large-scale wind farm on the Western Isles could fall at the last hurdle because of the failure to reform “unfair” charges to contribute energy to the national grid.
Transmission charges are by far the highest in Scotland, according to figures released by RenewableUK. In the north of Scotland transmission area, they equal £7.36 per megawatt-hour (MWh), £4.70 in the south of Scotland transmission area, and only 49 pence in England and Wales. In southern England, generators are paid to connect to the grid.
The Scottish charges are by far the highest in Europe, despite Scotland having perfect conditions to generate renewable energy – with 25% of Europe’s wind resources and 60% of the UK’s offshore wind capacity.
Hopes the issue would be addressed in the UK Government’s new energy strategy were dashed last week, when it failed to mention them.
Now the Stornoway Trust, which owns the land for the planned Lewis Wind Power development, has expressed concern that the high cost of transmitting energy to the mainland will scupper the project.
“There’s a danger it won’t go ahead even thought it would be a massive benefit to the island,” said chair Norman Maciver. “It would see substantial money coming into the island for 25 years – we are talking millions of pounds – and that would create jobs on top of the jobs at the wind farm.
“The Stornoway Trust was one of the first communities to put forward plans for a wind farm 20 years ago, but because of our location we have had to overcome one hurdle after another,” he continued.
Many of the hurdles have been as a result of legal action from objectors to the plans for turbines on open moors and peatland west of Stornoway.
However, the project for a 150MW farm, brought forward by Stornoway Wind Farm Limited, a subsidiary of Lewis Wind Power Limited, a joint venture between EDF Renewables and Wood, has been endorsed by the council, Comhairle nan Eilean.
The developers are in the process of applying for a Contract for Difference (CFD), the UK Government’s main mechanism for supporting low-carbon electricity generation, after being unsuccessful in an auction for a CFD two years ago.
However, Maciver said they were being hampered as their bid had to take into account the high charges to connect to the mainland.
“The current charging regime disadvantages the Western Isles,” he said. “Ofgem have accepted the regime is antiquated and unfair and that it needs reviewed, but we don’t know the timescale for that. If they changed it now it would help, but it doesn’t sound as if that is going to happen.”
SNP MP Angus MacNeil has been pushing for the transmission charges to be reformed.
He said that while Scotland was paying £7.36 to put energy into the national grid, European countries could sell into the UK market for just 46p.
“It is a huge handicap and is all to do with the set up in the UK, which is nuts,” said MacNeil, MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar. “It gets even more bizarre when in some places they are actually subsidising producers for putting electricity onto the grid.
“We live in places with the highest fuel poverty in the UK, but for as long as we are stuck with the UK Government and enthralled by some hocus pocus idea of markets, we are going to have this nonsense.”
Scotland’s Net Zero and Energy Secretary, Michael Matheson, said: “Scotland has some of the most extensive renewable generation capabilities in Europe, but investments in these areas are being held back by unfair network charges.
“We recognise that this is a complex area that requires careful consideration, however, it is concerning that, despite repeated calls, the UK Government does not appear to be considering a new, fair approach to encourage further investment in renewables. We are ready to work with the UK Government to consider solutions for a fairer system which supports renewable generation in the best locations.”
A spokesperson for Ofgem said: “Ofgem has been looking into reforming TNUoS (Transmission Network Use of System) charges since we issued our ‘call for evidence’ in October 2021. In February 2022, we announced a programme to consider the root causes of unpredictability in TNUoS charges and how they might be addressed, and to ensure that the charges users pay accurately reflect the cost of them using the system.
“In the longer term we will continue to work with industry and stakeholders to consider broader reform of the market to foster a flexible, net zero energy system.”
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