Nuclear deal keeps lights on in blow to green energy
THE green energy dream of the Scottish Government was in tatters l ast night after it emerged a nuclear power station will stay open for an extra seven years.
Energy giant EDF yesterday said it had decided to delay the closure of Torness until 2030 because there was still a demand for nuclear power north of the Border.
It is hugely embarrassing for the antinuclear SNP Government, which was forced to welcome the extension in the face of a looming electricity shortage.
Experts said the stay of execution for Torness, in East Lothian, would help Scotland keep the lights on for now. But they warned the threat of ‘brown-
‘Unsustainable form of energy’
outs’ – when lights dim due to a reduced power supply – remains.
The Scottish Tories said the decision was proof that the SNP’s wind farm obsession had failed.
Scotland’s two nuclear power plants – both run by EDF – provide 33 per cent of the country’s electricity. But Hunterston, in Ayrshire, is 40 years old and due to close in 2023. Torness is 28 years old.
Scotland’s last remaining coalfired power station – Longannet, in Fife – is to shut next month.
Even with the rapid and unpopular spread of wind farms across the countryside, renewables provide only 38 per cent of Scotland’s energy mix.
Following the decision on Torness, Paul Younger, professor of energy engineering at the Glasgow University, said: ‘This is an announcement I was hoping would be made because Scotland is facing a meltdown in its ability to produce all the electricity it wants on demand.’
He said Scotland’s two nuclear power stations provide l owcarbon electricity around the clock, adding: ‘ As other things wax and wane, like the wind com- ing or not, it provides the bedrock. Without nuclear, Scotland is going to have serious problems achieving its carbon targets and keeping its lights on.’
Scottish Tory energy spokesman Murdo Fraser said: ‘This news will be a huge relief to the Scottish Government, which has no long-term plan for keeping the lights on in Scotland.
‘And while the SNP may pretend to disapprove of nuclear energy, this announcement shows just how crucial it is.’
The Scottish Government wants green energy to meet all of the country’s needs by 2020.
But EDF, which operates more than 30 UK wind farms, insisted nuclear should be part of the energy mix. A spokesman said: ‘Whilst renewables are zerocarbon, they are not always available and whilst coal and gas are more reliable, they emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.’
Professor Younger said Scotland had gone from being ‘a routine exporter to being a frequent and, eventually, net importer of electricity from England’.
He predicted: ‘The dream of Scotland always sending energy south is going to be in tatters, because we are going to be bringing energy north instead.’
Scottish Labour welcomed the decision on Torness, as it secures hundreds of jobs in East Lothian. Iain Gray, Labour MSP for East Lothian, said: ‘We very much need the electricity which Torness supplies.’ However, Sarah Beattie- Smith, infrastructure spokesman f or the Scottish Greens and Holyrood candidate for South of Scotland, said: ‘With Scotland’s abundant renewable energy resources and the need to focus on energy efficiency, we have no need for nuclear.’
Dr Richard Dixon, director of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: ‘Nuclear power is the ultimate unsustainable f orm of energy, creating waste which needs to be looked after for 25,000 years.’
A government spokesman said: ‘The Scottish Government supports life extensions for existing nuclear power stations, where the environmental and safety requirements continue to be met, and we recognise the professionalism of the staff at Torness and Hunterston.’
Comment – Page 14
‘Serious problems achieving targets’