The Labour Government stands accused of risking the devastation of the North Sea oil and gas industry but has offered generous support for the development of Scottish renewable energy assets - which householders will have to pay for.
While industry leaders warn that Chancellor Rachel Reeves' plans for a windfall tax hike will cause firms to slash investment in oil and gas assets, Scotland is set to get a disproportionate share of the funding for renewables provided under the latest official subsidy round.
As energy secretary Ed Miliband hailed the outcome of a ‘record-setting’ sixth allocation round under the Contracts for Difference programme, the detail of the announcement underlined how well Scotland has done out of it.
Of the 131 projects that won support some 37 are in Scotland. In the case of onshore wind Scotland won 18 of the 22 awards made.
While the SNP Government might claim the results reflect the quality of Scottish projects the reality is less flattering. Scotland won such a big share because developers were effectively prevented from putting schemes in England forward as a result of planning controls imposed by Boris Johnson’s government.
Ms Reeves has boasted that Labour scrapped those controls within 72 hours of taking power meaning projects in Scotland will face much stiffer competition.
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Mr Miliband was delighted that the round attracted bids from firms working on big offshore wind projects after they snubbed the last auction held by the Tories.
Developers claimed the support offered in the fifth allocation round was not generous enough to cover their costs following the surge in inflation.
Nine offshore wind projects won support in the latest round, including three in Scotland.
The one floating offshore wind project that won backing was the Green Volt scheme off north east Scotland. This is expected to supply renewable energy for oil and gas operations.
Mr Miliband said the round represented a significant step........