Scottish councils 'may lose wind farm cash'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-33550487

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Scottish councils may lose out on more than £44m of income over the next 20 years if changes are made to wind farm subsidies, according to a trade body.

The UK government recently announced changes to the way onshore wind energy schemes are supported.

Critics fear this could lead to some proposed schemes getting the axe.

Industry body Scottish Renewables said five Scottish councils could lose out on income if developments they have invested in do not go ahead.

The UK government announced last month that new onshore wind farms would be excluded from a subsidy scheme from 1 April 2016 - a year earlier than expected.

But there will be a grace period for projects which already have planning permission.

Energy firms had already been facing an end to subsidies in 2017.

Renewable energy

The funding for the subsidy comes from the Renewables Obligation, which is funded by levies added to household fuel bills.

Making the announcement, UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Amber Rudd said: "We are driving forward our commitment to end new onshore wind subsidies and give local communities the final say over any new wind farms.

"Onshore wind is an important part of our energy mix and we now have enough subsidised projects in the pipeline to meet our renewable energy commitments.

The Scottish government condemned the move.

Scottish Renewables, which promotes the industry, said five councils, had already invested more than £650,000 in site investigation and pre-planning work on publicly-owned wind farm projects.

Glasgow is one of the five local authorities. The other four were not identified in the survey.

The wind farms, if they go ahead, would bring in revenue to the councils over the next two decades.

The planned UK government changes mean many schemes could face delays or cancellation.

The survey - carried out by the Association for Public Service Excellence for industry body Scottish Renewables - also found that 30 jobs would be at risk if projects were scrapped.

Carbon emissions

Joss Blamire, senior policy manager at Scottish Renewables, said: "Given the pressures on local authority budgets, many have looked elsewhere for income.

"Renewables not only allow Scotland's cities and towns do their bit to cut the carbon emissions which are causing climate change, but also support almost 12,000 Scottish jobs.

"With the premature end of one renewables support scheme already announced last month and two others - Contracts for Difference and the Feed-in Tariff - the subject of significant uncertainty, councils have been left in limbo.

"That means more than £650,000 of public money which has already been spent, not to mention projected incomes in the tens of millions of pounds, could now be lost if the UK government doesn't urgently reconsider its position."

The survey, conducted between 6 and 10 July, found a total of 25 wind turbines were planned by the five Scottish councils who responded.

Glasgow City Council currently operates a single turbine at Cathkin Braes on the south edge of the city.

Plans for 11 more wind turbines on sites around the city were all at the pre-planning stage and the authority was about to commit £70,000 on feasibility studies to see if they could go ahead.

It is estimated that those plans could have brought in about £11m over the 20-year life of the turbines but the schemes are now on hold.

Affordable warmth

Glasgow City Council leader Gordon Matheson, who is also chair of the Sustainable Glasgow partnership, said: "Glasgow aims to lead the way in using new green technology in our city to improve the environment, create jobs and reduce our carbon footprint.

"Our wind turbine at Cathkin Braes, which is a joint venture between SSE and the council, pays a dividend to a local community trust to support local projects.

"I have also pledged that revenues from renewable projects will be directed to supporting Glasgow's affordable warmth strategy, with a particular focus on our most vulnerable residents.

"Our plans to increase the number of wind turbines in the city now face uncertainty due to recent policy changes and, due to these changes, the community benefits, which would help local people and their neighbours grow and prosper, are at risk."

APSE Energy is a local authority collaboration group on civic energy and renewables schemes, and carried out the snapshot survey on behalf of Scottish Renewables.

APSE Energy director Mark Bramah said: "Councils have invested a great deal of time, resources and money to bring forward projects which have the benefit of contributing to the sustainable energy mix of their localities and can generate significant revenues to support hard-pressed communities and local public services."