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Renewable energy potential
14/02/2008
Scottish & Southern Energy's recent acquisition of Airtricity supports Scotland's plans to work with countries on its neighbouring shores to develop our vast offshore renewable energy potential.
The First Minister Alex Salmond was speaking following a meeting with Airtricity in Dublin, Ireland. The company is a leading supplier of renewable energy and was the original proposer of plans to develop an European Offshore Supergrid.
Scottish & Southern Energy agreed a deal to purchase Airtricity last month.
The First Minister said:
"Scotland boasts one of the greatest coastlines in the world for generating wind, wave and tidal energy. Our natural environment provides us with a clear, competitive advantage in developing clean, green energy sources.
"The Scottish Government has set an ambitious target to generate 50 per cent of Scotland's electricity from renewable sources by 2020. We must harness the opportunities posed by our natural resources and I firmly believe developing the concept of a supergrid will enable us to do this.
"The north and east coasts of Scotland, the west coasts of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and the north coast of Germany have a huge potential for capturing offshore wind, wave and tidal energy. The challenge we all share is the lack of an electricity grid infrastructure which can enable energy capture to exploit our marine renewable resources.
"In 2007, Scotland and Ireland commissioned a pre-scoping study to identify the requirements of a full feasibility study for capitalising on the natural resources of our coasts, to generate energy from offshore renewables. Working in partnership, we intend to get the study underway later this year.
"Airtricity has already made proposals to develop an European Offshore Supergrid. Scottish & Southern Energy's recent acquisition of the company demonstrates its commitment to ensure a low carbon future for Scotland.
"The recent Electricity Trends Report showed that in 2006, Scotland supplied 92.5 per cent of its energy needs from non nuclear sources including, renewables and pumped hydro storage. Scotland is already leading the way in providing safe and sustainable energy. The development of a supergrid is fundamental to our plans for increasing the supply and use of renewable energy in Scotland."
The Scottish Government is exploring sub-sea grid options through two offshore transmission studies:
Irish Scottish Links on Energy Study (ISLES) looks at the Atlantic coasts of Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and the Irish Sea. Along with our Irish counterparts, we commissioned a pre-scoping study last year to identify the requirements of a full feasibility study for capitalising on the natural resources of these regions, to generate energy from offshore renewables. We are now preparing an application to the European Commission's Territorial Cooperation Cross Border programme, to support the detailed feasibility study and intend to commence the study later this year.
The North Sea Energy Grid (NSEG) study is exploring potential links between the north and east coasts of Scotland, and the coast of northern mainland Europe. The Scottish Government is currently undertaking a further pre-scoping study and intend to follow a similar submission route for European funding in 2008. European partners are currently being sought by the Scottish Government to support the project. The aim of both ISLES and NSEG is to help make the business case for future commercial Investment.