SNP slams UK Government management of grid system

The SNP has slammed the UK Government’s management of the energy market after an expert described the system as “rigged” against Scotland.

With Longannet power station due to close in March 2016, the SNP have jumped on comments from the University of Glasgow’s Professor Paul Younger, who described the UK Grid System as “a real dog’s breakfast”.

Attributing the closure to problems brought by privatisation, Younger told the National: “They rigged the market in such a way that the only big conurbation they recognise as being worth servicing is London.”

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Reacting, SNP MSP Mike MacKenzie said: “It is clear that the decision to close Longannet early was a direct result of the UK Government’s deeply unfair transmission charging system which favours the South of England to the detriment of Scotland’s energy sector.

“These new comments from Professor Younger add further weight to the argument that the UK Government should revisit this pressing issue.” 

But while the SNP identified transmission charges as the cause of the closure, the Scottish Tories blamed it on wind energy.

Murdo Fraser, the Scottish Tory energy spokesman, said: “It was utterly predictable that the SNP would rush to blame Westminster for the closure of a Scottish power station.

“But the fact is the high transmission costs the Scottish Government are citing are partly driven by its own obsession for expensive and unreliable wind energy.

“And if it was to pursue its ‘postage stamp’ system, experts have already said this would add an extra £7 billion onto the bills of energy customers.”

Meanwhile Scottish Labour, along with trade union groups, called for an appropriate response form the Scottish Government, which will establish a taskforce to support the workers, businesses and communities impacted by the station’s closure.

MSP Lewis Macdonald said: “Over 200 job losses will hit the workers, their families and local communities hard, and it is vital that the Scottish Government responds accordingly.”

“Longannet’s closure, and the decision not to proceed with Cockenzie, also raises serious questions about what contingency policies, if any, are in place for Scotland’s future energy supply, and these are questions which need to be answered urgently at Holyrood and Westminster.”  

With Scottish Power having also dropped plans for a gas-fired power station at Cockenzie, the Scottish Green Party has called for an energy agenda focused on demand reduction, storage and low-carbon.

Patrick Harvie MSP, the Greens’ economy and energy spokesperson, said: “The cost of connecting to the grid is certainly a factor in Scottish Power's decisions but more importantly Longannet was always due to close due to the polluting nature of its production and the advance of clean, renewable energy generation.

“Scotland's energy agenda must now focus very clearly on energy efficiency and demand reduction, increased storage, a new North Sea transmission grid and low-carbon energy generation with greater community ownership." 

Meanwhile WWF Scotland described the news as “an historic, but important step in Scotland’s energy transition.”

Director Lang Banks said: “While Longannet has served the nation for many years, it is Scotland's single biggest source of climate emissions and a combination of its age, air pollution rules, carbon pricing and transmission charging have made closure inevitable.

 “The recent Scottish Parliament inquiry into energy security provided ample evidence from the National Grid and other experts that Scotland’s electricity supply is absolutely secure without Longannet.”