Offshore wind auction reaction

Climate campaigners have welcomed the announcement of offshore wind projects in Scotland but cautioned that successful bidders must not be allowed to evade their responsibilities to communities and workers.

Crown Estate Scotland announced the outcome of its application process for Scottish offshore wind leasing. 17 projects have been selected and have now been offered option agreements which reserve the rights to specific areas of seabed. Together they could create over 24GW of electricity.

Ryan Morrison, Just Transition Campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland commented

“The potential 24GW of capacity awarded in this ScotWind leasing round could be momentous in the shift towards a fully renewable future. Scaling up renewable energy to directly power our homes, buildings and vehicles will help speed up the phase out of climate-wrecking oil and gas.

“It also brings an opportunity to drive a Just Transition but experience in Scotland to date shows these multinational developers often put cutting costs above workers and communities.

“The Scottish Government must set strict conditions on these companies to use local content and open up opportunities for workers currently in oil and gas. If they fail to meet these standards, the Government must be prepared to rescind the options and step in with their own Public Energy Company.”

ENDS