Is an independent Scottish electricity system good for renewable energy and Scotland?

Toke, David; Strachan, Peter; Cowell, Richard; Ellis, Geraint; Sherry-Brennan, Fionnguala

Abstract

At the beginning of 2013 five academics from different UK universities published a paper on the prospects for renewable energy in the context of the debate about Scottish independence (Toke et al 2013). The conclusion was that it would likely be rather more expensive to reach the Scottish Government’s renewable energy targets in the case of an independent Scotland as opposed to Scotland remaining within the Union. Since the paper was published, there have been significant developments in UK electricity policy, and as a result we now wish to adjust our conclusions with respect to the prospects for renewables in the case of Scottish independence, or ‘devo plus’ circumstances, where Scotland has an independently managed and financed electricity system. In short, we now suggest that with a UK nuclear new build programme going ahead, an independent Scottish electricity system could deliver the Scottish renewable electricity target at lower electricity prices for the consumer than if this was achieved as part of the continued union of the electricity system between Scotland and the rest of the UK.

Citation

TOKE, D., STRACHAN, P., COWELL, R., ELLIS, G. and SHERRY-BRENNAN, F. 2013. Is an independent Scottish electricity system good for renewable energy and Scotland? The DREUD Report on implications of the UK Government's decisions on new nuclear power and Electricity Market Reform for the prospects of renewable energy in Scotland. Aberdeen: Robert Gordon University. [online]. Available from: https://www.rgu.ac.uk/file/the-dreud-report

• Report Type: Research Report
• Online Publication Date: Dec 31, 2013
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2013
• Deposit Date: Mar 12, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 12, 2014
• Publisher: Robert Gordon University
• Keywords: Electricity; Renewable energy; Scotland
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/943
• Publisher URL: https://www.rgu.ac.uk/file/the-dreud-report