Nicola Sturgeon should 'build' on relationship with London
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Scotland is rich in wind power, with it being able to generate 97.4 percent of its total energy needs from renewable sources. Scotland currently generates over 9000 MW of electricity from wind farms, and that figure is only set to grow. Last month, a host of energy giants signed multi-million-pound contracts with Scotland to build energy farms.
Energy giants including Shell, BP and Scottish Power have agreed to pay £700million collectively for the rights to build 25 gigawatts of offshore wind around Scotland – both floating and fixed turbines
These deals will hand Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon a major boost to her bid for Scotland’s independence.
Renewable energy formed a key part of the first independence battle as Scotland boasts one of the most favourable conditions in Europe for harvesting wind.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Molly Scott-Cato, a green economist and former MEP, weighed on what would happen if Scotland became independent.
She noted that the rest of the UK wouldn’t be excluded from the benefits of the wind generated by Scotland, as it would likely become a major exporter of electricity, through interconnecting cables to the UK, like the ones by Norway and France.
She said: “The energy market already doesn’t stop at borders.
“If you’re looking at where we’re getting our energy right now- a lot of it already comes from interconnectors from Ireland, Norway and France.
“That needs to increase as well with renewables, so there will be imports and exports of energy between Scotland and England, as there is between England and Ireland and France.
“The energy market has already evolved beyond these nation-state boundaries.”
However, this energy wouldn’t be free, as Prof Scott-Cato warns that this would be a significant bargaining chip in the hands of Ms Sturgeon.
She continued: “Obviously, we will have to pay Scotland.
“I think that one of the things that we’re quite interesting about the economy that we’re moving towards is that Scotland is now very well endowed with the resources of the future economy, and England not so much.
“Looking ahead at the climate change world, it’s going to shift the economic power balance because Scotland will have resources that England needs, rather than the reverse being the case.
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“Scotland will have a bigger economic impact in the coming years.
“When we get to the point of negotiating the separation, and I hope it’s done in a positive spirit, this is going to be one of the cards that Scotland holds in its hands.”
Scotland is currently sitting on a goldmine of exportable renewable resources.
Industry body Scottish Renewables said output had tripled in the last 10 years, with enough power for the equivalent of seven million households.
In 2019 it was reported that Scotland was producing enough wind energy to power the country twice over.
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