The Scotsman

Pressure mounts on ministers to confirm total ban on fracking

● Labour and Greens turn up the heat as SNP prepares to make its position clear

- By GRAEME MURRAY By JAMES DELANEY

Storage technologi­es now offer new options of how energy can be generated and managed A combinatio­n of renewables, gas generation and power storage will dominate the energy market, according to a company boss.

Alan Baker, of Forsa Energy, says flexible energy generation promises the best value for consumers and will lead the rapidly-changing energy market in the future.

Created from Velocita Energy Developmen­ts and Scottish developer 2020 Renewables, bosses are said to have a portfolio of more than 750MW onshore wind and energy storage schemes.

The firm wants to develop, build and operate further gas, renewable and energy storage projects across the continent.

Mr Baker, a former head of 2020 Renewables and Velocita, said: “The market is changing so fast it is hard for government and regulators to keep up. The recent auction of offshore wind contracts, where costs have more than halved, shows renewable energy projects will continue to get cheaper as long as there is a market for their power.”

Storage technologi­es, the firm says, offer new options of how energy can be generated and managed in addition to decentrali­sed gas generation. Failure to introduce an outright ban on fracking will be a “betrayal” of Scotland’s climate change commitment­s, SNP ministers have been warned.

Reports have suggested the Scottish Government could confirm within days that it is to outlaw the controvers­ial practice.

Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens have already made their opposition to fracking clear, with Labour having pledged to bring forward legislatio­n if the Scottish Government fails to act. Labour environmen­t spokeswoma­n Claudia Beamish made clear she would press ahead with that if min- isters did not ban the practice completely, adding: “Anything less than an outright ban of onshore fracking in all its forms would be a betrayal by the SNP Government of our climate change commitment­s, our communitie­s and the job opportunit­ies now and for future generation­s in clean, renewable energy.”

“When the SNP Government finally makes a statement, after so much delay, I will be looking for absolute clarity on how it will proceed to a total ban.

“Otherwise, I will continue with my Members’ Bill to ban onshore fracking, to make sure that we protect our planet for this and future generation­s to come.”

The Scottish Government announced a moratorium on fracking in January 2015, but ministers have still to decide if this should be made permanent.

When the legislativ­e programme for the coming year was announced, ministers said they would set out their view on fracking and seek parliament­ary approval “in the coming weeks”.

Scottish Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie said: “There’s a growing impatience over the SNP’S inability to announce an outright ban and I hope they make a statement this week because communitie­s across Scotland deserve certainty.”

“Given the risks it poses to public health, the safety of workers and the damage to our reputation as a climate change leader, it’s time for the Scottish Government to rule out fracking for good.”

Grangemout­h plant owners Ineos would stand to lose the most from any ban after securing a licence to extract shale gas from a 329-square kilometre site in the Midland Valley in 2014.

The company has repeatedly called on the government to end the moratorium on the controvers­ial practice.

A Scottish Government spokeswoma­n said: “We have published research reports on the potential impacts of unconventi­onal oil and gas and carried out an extensive public consultati­on which attracted more than 60,000 responses.

“Ministers are considerin­g the evidence, including the consultati­on results and will put their recommenda­tion on the way forward to the Scottish Parliament for MSPS to vote on this important issue before the end of this calendar year.”

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