Convener of Ramblers Scotland, Dennis Canavan, has called for the next Scottish Government to carry out a fundamental review of the role of windfarm development in future energy strategies.
The call comes after it was revealed that windfarm operators in Scotland are being paid to switch off their turbines because the national grid cannot cope with the excess energy being produced. Six windfarm operators have received payments of £900,000 for stopping their turbines for several hours on 5 and 6 April, including £300,000 paid to the operators of the Whitelees windfarm in East Renfrewshire.
Dennis Canavan said: “The windfarm gravy train needs to be stopped before it crashes into the buffers. It is an absolute scandal that these windfarm operators are being paid excessive levels of subsidy to produce electricity and then even more subsidy to not produce it! Why should citizens throughout Scotland have to pay the hidden subsidies contained within their electricity bills so that this nonsense can continue?
“When voters go to the polls on Thursday they need to understand that, over the last ten years, successive governments in both Holyrood and Westminster, have put in place disastrous energy policies. Scotland’s world famous landscapes are being desecrated at huge cost to every citizen while leaving the energy companies and large private landowners laughing all the way to the bank.”
Dennis Canavan emphasised that political commitment to renewable energy development needs to be balanced with a reality check: “I welcome the desire of politicians across all parties to substantially increase the proportion of energy generated from renewable sources. But this cannot done in a sensitive and cost effective way while there is excessive reliance on large scale onshore windfarms. The next Holyrood Government must seriously consider a halt to all such onshore development while the Westminster Government develops a new UK-wide scheme to focus financial support for large scale windfarm development onto offshore locations and an associated subsea grid network. The industrialisation of our wild and beautiful mountains and moors with wind turbines and roads must stop. I do not want to see any politicians elected to Holyrood who support the blowing away of our money in such crazy ways. Scotland needs politicians with the vision and initiative to devise a practical renewable energy policy without vandalising our natural heritage”.