en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Scottish Government has pledged to do "everything in its power" to help offshore wind developers advance projects totaling more than 40 gigawatts, which are currently at the ready, planning, or early development stages.
Stephen Gethins, Minister for Europe, Foreign Affairs, and Energy, stated that the scale of Scotland's project pipeline—at least half of which is floating wind capacity—places the region at the "forefront of global offshore wind development." Gethins, who took office after the Scottish Parliament elections in May, noted that this presents a "game-changing" economic opportunity that could potentially bring around 50,000 additional jobs and approximately £100 billion in capital investment.
Gethins acknowledged the headwinds facing the industry and said that Scottish ministerial officials would provide support to the sector. Speaking this morning (June 17) at the RenewableUK Global Offshore Wind conference in Manchester, he said: "We know the past few years have not been easy. We will do everything in our power to ensure the continued success of this industry." Related actions include ongoing efforts to streamline approval processes.
The Scottish Government has also committed to establishing a "ScotWind Wealth Fund," aimed at protecting revenue from offshore wind leasing rounds and preventing it from being used to fund day-to-day public spending. Meanwhile, Gethins called on London to leverage the powers retained by the UK government on energy policy to implement short-term and long-term reforms to grid charges currently under consideration. He stated that the UK government (Westminster) needs to step in to address the "disproportionate impact" of the Transmission Network Use of System (TNuOS) charging system, which currently imposes the highest transmission costs on projects in the far north of Scotland. Gethins said: "The current system is punitive and unfair to Scottish projects, and the UK government must take responsibility and urgently reform it."
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