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Nationalists would
get rid of 30-40 per cent of Scotland's generating capacity without having
any idea of how to replace it.
Getting rid
of nuclear power would convert Scotland from an exporter of energy into an
importer - dependent on
electricity generated from imported gas in English power stations.
Getting rid of nuclear power would convert Scotland from an exporter of
energy into an importer - dependent on
electricity generated from imported gas in English power stations.
That was the warning from Cunninghame North MSP, Allan Wilson, when he
replied for the Scottish Executive to a debate on Scotland's future energy
needs, initiated by the SNP. Mr Wilson said that the Nationalists would get
rid of 30-40 per cent of Scotland's generating capacity without having any
idea of how to replace it.
He said it was a "pretence" on the Nationalists part to claim that nuclear
could be replaced with renewables since security of supply could not be
delivered by substituting intermittent generation from wind-power for the
nuclear base-load that accounts for almost a quarter of Scotland's
electricity.
The Nationalist motion called for Scotland to be "self-sufficient" in
electricity - but, said Mr Wilson, this would involve a massive reduction in
current output and a dependence on gas to provide the base-load that would
be lost through the run-down of nuclear.
This would put Scotland in the same position as the rest of the UK -
dependent on gas imports brought in from all over the world to power our
electricity generating industry. However, since most gas-fired stations are
in England, it would mean Scotland importing its electricity from England,
instead of being a substantial exporter as at present.
"At the same time," Mr Wilson added, "the SNP are trying to turn England
into a foreign country".
Stressing the Executive's commitment to meeting ambitious renewable energy
targets, Mr Wilson accused the Nationalists of "hypocrisy" in claming to
support renewables as a replacement for nuclear power while at the same time
opposing the project at a local level for opportunistic political reasons.
He said that Scotland needed a "balanced energy policy" and the question had
to be asked - did it make sense to run down nuclear, the only substantial
producer of carbon-free electricity, at exactly the time that the need to
combat global warming was rising rapidly up the political agenda.
That was a question that had to be addressed realistically within Scotland
just as much as in the rest of the UK, said the Deputy Enterprise Minister
and Cunninghame North MSP.
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