Scotland’s government has come under fire for its lack of transparency regarding the country’s offshore renewable energy potential. The government has revealed that its projected share of Europe’s offshore energy capacity has been downgraded to around 9%, a significant reduction from the previous figure of 25% that had been used since 2010. The new calculation was disclosed in a letter sent by Energy Secretary Neil Gray to a Scottish Parliament committee on 21 September, while documents obtained by a pro-union campaign group showed that officials had advised against publicising the revised figure.
The Scottish Conservative Party has criticised the government for a “contempt for transparency.” A spokesperson explained that the previous projection had been understood to be accurate at the time but a new analysis had since been undertaken. They added that the revised figure would be shared with the Scottish Affairs Committee and Holyrood’s Presiding Officer in due course.
Scotland’s ambition to produce 11GW of offshore wind by 2030 would represent approximately 10% of the European Union’s total capacity. Discussions amongst officials suggested Mr Gray should write to the energy committee to advise parliament on the updated metrics without publicising the revisions. Scottish Conservative MSP Liam Kerr demanded transparency from the government, stating that “secrecy and cover-up does the renewables sector no favours.”
Scotland has doubled its renewable electricity generation in the past decade, with roughly 7% of Europe’s offshore wind capacity. The government defended the change in statistics, stating that while the previous figure was understood to be accurate at the time, it had come to their attention that it was not
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