Scotland proceeds with plans for 100 percent renewables by 2020

• 12 years ago (2012-03-06)
• David Flin

Europe 1061 Nuclear 640

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Scotland’s Energy Minister Fergus Ewing has launched a draft Electricity Generation Policy Statement (EGPS), which sets out plans to build up renewable energy, with a target of achieving 100 percent of its electricity being delivered by renewable sources by 2020.

The report is based on a series of key targets, including delivering the equivalent of at least 100 percent renewable electricity by 2020, with a minimum of 2.5 GW of thermal generation progressively fitted with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). The report also confirmed that nuclear energy would be phased out in Scotland over time, with no new nuclear build taking place in Scotland. Ewing said that the report was designed to demonstrate that Scotland could feasibly meet its green energy targets, despite criticism that they were too ambitious.

The EGPS also includes a proposal for Scotland to develop Emissions Performance Standards that are separate from the rest of the UK. The Scottish government maintains that a wider UK EPS policy will have little impact in Scotland, as power stations are already required to be fitted with 300 MW of CCS capability at first, and develop full CCS capability over time. The EGPS said: “While we are absolutely clear that emissions from power stations will need to fall to meet our 2030 decarbonisation objective for the power sector, it should in principle be a matter of Scottish discretion to determine the most effective mechanism to achieve this.