Going Green

Scotland's renewables industry has been handed a boost.

Funding has been granted to support a wind farm in the Firth of Forth over the next 15 years.

Experts say the tecnology is around 10% cheaper than nuclear power.

In total, 11 of 27 renewables projects will receive a contract for the electricity they produce in Scotland, enough to power the equivalent of more than 600,000 homes

The Neart na Gaoithe wind farm is expected to create hundreds of direct and indirect jobs during its construction as well as throughout its operational life.

Niall Stuart, Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables said: "We are pleased to see one Scottish project offered a contract in this process.

"With Neart na Gaoithe and the Beatrice development in the Moray Firth, we now have just over 1GW of offshore wind in Scottish waters with funding secured and moving towards a final investment decision. 

"This represents a significant volume of projects with the potential to really kick-start offshore wind in Scotland. The success of the East Anglia 1 scheme is also good news for Glasgow-based ScottishPower Renewables.

“Scotland’s offshore wind ambitions, however, go far beyond this. There remain almost 3GW of projects with planning permission which will still be looking to secure contracts in the future. Together they could create over 10,000 jobs during construction and over £2 billion in GVA. For them, the focus is now on the next auction, which is likely to start within the next 12 months.

“Yet we still have no indication of the size of the budget that will be available and competition for support could be even tighter. It is essential DECC gives some clarity on this as quickly as possible so that the projects, and the supply chain, can plan their future.”

Mr Stuart also highlighted that the successful bids were lower than previous levels of support for the industry: “With this one auction we have seen costs come down for offshore wind significantly and the industry on the way to its target of a 30% reduction in cost by 2020.”