Readers' letters: Scots energy lease deal is no blunder

John McLellan misunderstands the offshore wind auction “sell off” and inadvertently makes the case for independence when he lambasts Nicola Sturgeon over an alleged £60 billion “blunder” (News, 9 February).

The £775 million auction was conducted by the Crown Estate Scotland, an independent entity whose surplus income passes to Scottish Government via a Consolidated Fund.

The auction was for a ten-year lease not a sell off of assets. It is estimated that it will be 2030 before these floating wind turbines start producing. after which they will pay a sizeable rent.

Energy policy is reserved to Westminster and the much higher grid connection costs imposed on Scotland by Ofgem mitigated against the bid price from developers when compared to England.

ScotWind developers’ initial commitments to the Scottish supply chain is worth more than £28bn across the 20 ScotWind offshore projects with a combined potential generating capacity of 27.6GW - estimated to be enough to power over 14m homes.

With the borrowing powers of a normal country, an independent Scotland could have done things differently by entering into joint venture schemes with developers to maximise returns to the Scottish government.

Fraser Grant, Edinburgh

Greens have hijacked wind farm policy

The SNP Government has just adopted a manifesto promise of the Green party. The Greens got eight per cent of the vote.

Numerous applications are on the way to doubling Scotland’s wind farms. Only two National Parks and National Landscape areas to be protected. Penicuik Environment Protection Association and the Association to Protect the Environment at Leadburn spent ten years helping Midlothian Council protect the area between the Pentland Hills, Moorfoots and Tweedsmuir from three wind farms.

In October 2022, Edinburgh Council voted to bid for the Pentlands to be the new National Park on the strength of this.

Cloich Forest wind farm on the Edinburgh Peebles route, in full view from the Pentland Hills on government land was passed in 2016 after a reduction in height of turbines from 132m to 115m, following an objection by SNH. There were private water supply conditions that have never been met.

A new application at Cloich with turbines 149.5m high is being considered close to the extended Pentlands Special Landscape Area and the defeated Auchencorth wind farm.

There is now a preapplication for 18 turbines 190m high above Gladhouse Reservoir. There is a scoping opinion application for 13 turbines 200m blade tip, Leithenwater, 4.6km west of the tourist town of Peebles bordering Glentress Forest, the famous Borders Mountain Biking Centre.

I am in despair to see all this beauty now at risk. Where is the democratic mandate? What price independence?

Celia Hobbs, Penicuik

Power politics

In the good old days of public ownership, we had a gas, electricity and coal boards. Their task was to keep the power coming, so they planned ahead and built new power stations and the government paid the bill.

Then Margaret Thatcher thought government could do it cheaper, and ministers who didn’t have a clue wouldn’t spend on energy.

Then it was privatised, shareholders and expensive executives exploited it, until we ended up where we are now.

Malcolm Parkin, Kinross

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