SNP CALL FOR INTERCONNECTOR TIMESCALE FROM UK GOV

SNP’s Angus MacNeil calls for a clear timescale for the delivery of interconnectors to Scotland’s islands.

As Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister unveiled SNP plans for a Green Energy Deal to support a transformational shift towards the energy schemes of the future, Angus MacNeil SNP, Na h-Eileanan an Iar called on the UK Government to set a clear timescale for the delivery of the Interconnector in the Islands.

Included in the SNP proposals are reforms of the charging regime that discourages investment in Scotland, delivering an adequately funded tidal and wave energy strategy and ensuring that green energy projects get the long-term certainty needed to support investment.

Most importantly for Na h-Eileanan an Iar is the commitment to set a clear timescale for the delivery of the Interconnectors to the Scottish Islands, something which Mr MacNeil has been urging the UK Government to do for some time.

During the last Parliamentary Session, Mr MacNeil wrote to both Ofgem and the UK Governments Energy Minister, Kwasi Kwarteng and also challenged him in the Commons on this issue. Mr MacNeil expressed disappointment in September when the Contracts for Difference (CfD) Auction results announced by the UK Government awarded just 240MWh to projects in the Western Isles.

Commenting Mr MacNeil said:

“The UK Government must take the green agenda seriously. Ensuring that the interconnector comes to the Hebrides will enable clean, green energy to be delivered across the country. It is a ludicrous policy of the UK Government to award only 240 MWh in CfD round 3 while knowing that 369-400 MWh are needed to make the Interconnector economically viable.

“As an independent country, Scotland would ensure that a cable to the islands was built, to get the cleanest and greenest forms of energy from the wind in one of the statistically windiest places in Europe. It is particularly important to our young people as they look to their future that we ensure energy supplies without the need for carbon dioxide emissions.

“This is a crucial election. Voting for the SNP is a vote to secure a better outlook for our climate, for the next generation and to allow Scot’s to choose Scotland’s future.”