Keith Burns, Scientific Alliance: Here in Scotland we have lost flexible coal-fired Cockenzie power station and we are about to lose flexible coal-fired Longannet power station. Most of our UK wind capacity is in Scotland and we are removing our local generation capacity needed to match the vagaries of wind. We must not close Longannet until Scotland has replacement flexible generation at a sensible price. We need this balancing power locally, not imported from England. Gas replacing coal could reduce carbon emissions in the medium term. We must also plan for long term replacement of Hunterston and Torness with fourth-generation nuclear plant, carbon free and resistant to proliferation (possibly using thorium). Development of nuclear power technology globally will provide the safe generation capacity we need at a competitive price. These important energy decisions are not devolved to Scottish Government, which tends to stand back and deny responsibility for our predicament. Former first minister Alex Salmond has made the preposterous statement that the Pentland Firth has enough wave energy for whole of Europe – indeed it might have, but it is neither available at reasonable cost nor transmittable if it were. Scotland has enjoyed many years of grid security due to the foresight of those who conceived power projects like Cockenzie, Longannet, Hunterston and Torness. These enormously valuable assets have either gone, or will go soon. There are no clear plans to replace them with appropriate alternative capacity. Furthermore, in the case of the replacement nuclear capacity provided by Hunterston and Torness, the Scottish Government has declared that planning approval will not be granted for nuclear replacement because, according to Salmond nuclear power is dangerous,
Scotsman 19th Jan 2016 read more »