Race against Time

The country's chief lobbyist for renewables tells Rosemary Gallagher why it's a race against time to meet generating targets

Published Date: 15 February 2009

THE nuclear energy debate has set the Scottish Government on a well-documented collision course with Westminster and business leaders who warn that its resistance to building a new generation of reactors will mean a brain drain of talent and the lights being switched off. Enough, perhaps, to swell the chest of the country's chief lobbyist for the renewables industry.
Well, not exactly. Jason Ormiston, chief executive of trade body Scottish Renewables, is not merely a spokesman for the wind and wave brigade. "No, no, no," insists Ormiston. "Scottish Renewables' position (on nuclear] is one of agnosticism. We don't tell the Government how it should manage that particular issue. "The vision we have is of a number of generating technologies operating together where the weaknesses of each are balanced by the strengths of others. I like to think of it as a football team, where the whole is better than the sum of the parts."He doesn't say whether the football team he has in mind is his first love, Dunfermline Athletic, or Partick Thistle, the local outfit he has adopted since moving to the west end of Glasgow. However, he does say it is unfortunate that the language of the debate around nuclear has been "a little strident at times" and needs to take a "more sensible and sober turn". Only then can key decisions be made about the role of different generating technologies over the next 20 years."It would be helpful if some commentators were able to make the case for their favourite technology without using myths to undermine others that have an important role to play. I haven't heard anyone sensibly articulate the type of argument I'm making about moving towards an electricity system that has a significant contribution from renewables as part of a wider mix offering the reliability and affordability we need."The former business journalist has led Scottish Renewables, an industry-led body representing 241 energy organisations since October 2007. He is still a relatively youthful 38, and his pragmatic approach may stem from his career to date. He got involved in the sector after the Scottish daily newspaper Business AM collapsed in 2002 and he found himself out of work. He tried his hand at sports journalism before advising a public relations agency on green energy and then joining Scottish Renewables as its wind engineering officer. While a business journalist he covered the paper's energy beat, focusing on oil and gas at a time when renewables were relatively far down the media agenda."As a journalist, I wasn't in any way worried about the impact of the oil and gas sector. But I have always had a strong interest in environmental issues. A big concern of mine is climate change and how fossil fuels should be considered as a more precious resource," he says.Earlier, he had taken part in a lengthy session at the Scottish Parliament on delivering the energy future. Along with Scottish & Southern Energy, ScottishPower, the National Grid, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and industry regulator Ofgem, he was asked to give evidence on the technicalities of transmission charging and energy infrastructure. He gave an eloquent account on all aspects of energy, not just renewables.But, despite his view that the country's energy needs must be met by a mixed portfolio, he is not willing to challenge SNP's opposition to nuclear. One way or another, answers have to be found, as the country's coal-fired and nuclear power stations are due to be decommissioned without a clear strategy for replacing them. Cockenzie coal-fired station closes in 2015; Hunterston nuclear plant in 2016; Longannet coal-fired station in 2020; Torness nuclear reactor in 2023 and Peterhead gas-fired station two years later.With coal currently producing 32.7% of Scotland's electricity, nuclear 26.4% and renewables, including hydro, only 13%, there is a long way to go before the Government hits its target of 50% of the country's electricity coming from renewable sources by 2020. "Reaching 50% is still challenging. It's certainly not in the bag as a lot of things have to happen first," Ormiston concedes. One prerequisite is for planners to give the go-ahead to SSE and ScottishPower's proposals to replace and upgrade the transmission line between Beauly, near Inverness, and Denny, near Falkirk. The energy companies need approval by March to start work in June and have the new line complete by 2012. Scottish Renewables has consistently made the case that failure to give a timely approval to the proposal, the largest single civil engineering project since Scotland's large hydro stations were built, will be a major setback for the growth of the country's renewable electricity industry. It would also see the loss of £1.5bn worth of investment in the north of the country. Ormiston says the project has to be given the green light to allow even half of the renewable projects in the planning system to be plugged into the grid network. Uncertainty over the Beauly-Denny project is not the only hurdle. If the 2020 target is to be met, all the required renewable capacity has to be given planning consent by 2017. "Political support needs to be in place if this is to happen," says Ormiston. In technical terms, Scotland currently has almost 3,000 megawatts of renewable capacity already installed. It needs another 5,000MW to meet the 2020 target.Scotland's largest onshore wind farm currently being built at Whitelee, Glasgow by ScottishPower, will have capacity to generate 322MW of electricity from about 140 turbines. Quite a few more Whitelees would be needed by 2020 to meet the Scottish Government's target. But it is not that straightforward as most wind farms will be on a much smaller scale and other forms of renewables, including wave and tidal power, will have a role to play. The support of planners will be crucial to the success of the renewables industry but is far from guaranteed."The litmus test when it comes to planning will be whether Beauly-Denny is given the go-ahead," says Ormiston.While, he says, planning is an improving situation, it has been a big issue for the industry, and one Scottish Renewables has fought hard with the politicians to improve. "The inconsistent approach and the time spent making planning decisions has caused the renewables industry major problems. A lot of the larger projects were unnecessarily delayed. I don't think the planning system is well enough resourced to take a project through the system in an acceptable time. A backlog develops and those employed in the system also have to put up with political pressure."Another barrier to the development of the renewables industry is the skills shortage.There are two aspects to the shortage, says Ormiston. On the domestic side, there are not enough plumbers and electricians trained in green energy to, for example, install solar panels. To tackle this problem Scottish Renewables is working with a number of bodies, such as the Scottish and Northern Irish Plumbing Employer Federation, to train more workers. The Scottish Government is aware of the problem and is developing its Renewable Heat Action Plan to be published later in the year."We would expect the Government to identify this problem as an important issue that needs to be addressed. But we do need to shift very quickly from thinking about the problem to doing something about it. In my experience, Westminster and Holyrood are very good at talking and strategising but not delivering."On the company side, there are not enough engineering graduates coming through with the qualifications to work on the country's wind, wave and tidal projects, Ormiston warns."There is, generally speaking, a shortage of engineers and we have members who are struggling to recruit people with the skills they need. We have to invest to build up capacity. If we can't find engineers to make devices work, the industry will have a problem as we're still in proof-of-technology stage. We need to be able to show that renewable devices, including those for wave and tidal power, and carbon capture, can be commercialised."