The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
‘Incompetence of wind farm delays sees jobs slip away’
Humza Yousaf’s climate goals face a fresh setback after his government was accused of “startling incompetence” over delays to a major wind farm off the coast of Fife.
The Berwick Bank development in the outer Firth of Forth has the potential to create 4,650 jobs in Scotland and power six million homes through clean energy.
But the project has not yet been given consent by Scottish ministers, so it has missed a deadline to bid for a power price guarantee from the UK Government.
The Sunday Times revealed the delay just days after the Snp-green government at Holyrood was forced to admit that emissions targets for 2030 would not be reached.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar urged ministers to explain how their “startling incompetence let this project, and the jobs it could have brought to the Scottish economy, slip away”.
UK energy minister Andrew Bowie also warned that delays to approving the wind farm project would cost jobs and “put at risk the goal to get to net zero by 2050”.
“It’s quite astonishing that in the same week as the Scottish Government has had to embarrassingly dump its decarbonisation target, they are also causing havoc with the UK’S overall climate goals by dragging their feet over the Berwick Bank offshore wind farm,” he said.
The north-east MP added: “How much longer
Green MSPS can support this failing administration remains to be seen.”
Energy giant SSE lodged plans for the development, one of the world’s largest, in December 2022.
However, without consent from Scottish ministers, it could not go into the UK Government’s contracts for difference auction. This is where developers can bid for longterm deals that guarantee a price for the power generated.
The deadline for this year’s round closed on Friday and no further auctions are planned until 2025.
This is despite the first minister last year committed to speeding up the consenting process for onshore wind farms within 12 months.
The likely delay in starting work could push up its overall cost and stall any investment by supply chain partners.
Projections by SSE indicate the wind farm would generate more than £8 billion for the UK economy as a whole over the lifetime of the project.
But it is facing opposition from leading conservation charities which say it is a potential catastrophe for Scotland’s seabird population.
An SSE spokesman said: “The sooner Berwick Bank is consented, the sooner we can get on with delivering against Scottish and UK offshore wind targets to ensure energy security for future generations.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “A decision on Berwick Bank will be taken by ministers in due course. It is important the consenting process is robust to ensure the right projects are built in the right place at the right time in order to support industry, protect our marine environment and other sea users and maximise the economic opportunities a secure pipeline of development will bring.”