I'm back at my desk for a couple of days...
The Scottish Government has published the findings of an expert commission into how the energy market north of the border would work post-independence. Unlikely as that result might seem at the present time, the report makes for amusing reading.
The commission itself seems to be one of those bodies like the Russell or Stern reviews that was put together to lend credence to a pre-ordained result. If you take a look at the panel members you can see what I mean:
Chair: Robert Armour OBE (Chairman, Smarter Grid Solutions, Senior Counsel, Gowlings)
- Simon Bucknall (Retired, Formerly Director of Regulation, Scottish Power).
- Tom Delay (Chief Executive, The Carbon Trust).
- Audrey Gallacher (Director of Energy, Consumer Focus).
- Dr Robert Gross (Head of UKERC Technology and Policy Assessment Function, Imperial College).
- Gordon MacDougall (COO, UK and Ireland, Renewable Energy Systems).
- Dr Fiona Riddoch (Managing Director, Cogen Europe).
- John Scott (Director, Chiltern Power Ltd, Formerly Director of Engineering National Grid and Technical Director, Ofgem).
- David Sigsworth (Chairman, SEPA, Chairman of the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum, Former Board Director, SSE).
- Graeme Sweeney (Special Advisor on CO2 to Royal Dutch Shell, Executive Chair of Chop-cloc Ltd; Chairman of the Advisory Council of the European Technology Platform on Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants (ETP-ZEP)
There's an excellent demolition of the findings in the Scotsman, where Brian Wilson seems close to breaking down at the sheer inanity of energy policy north of the border:
Let’s look at the Scottish Government’s existing energy policy which can be summarised as follows:
1. They hate nuclear power and there will be no replacement for Hunterston B and Torness until hell freezes over.
2. They neither know nor care what will replace the base-load from Scotland’s four thermal power stations, all due to close within a decade, since that’s tomorrow’s problem.
3. The answer is that it will probably come from England via the inter-connector but with a bit of luck the hated Hunterston B and Torness will keep going long enough to avoid that embarrassment for a few years yet.
4. English consumers will continue to fund Scottish renewables, via open-ended subsidy and infrastructure costs, regardless of whether or not we are living in separate states.
5. Er… that’s it…
Wilson is a former Scottish energy minister so an unenlightened reader might assume that he knows what he is talking about. However, the more worldly-wise BH reader will note that he has been a prominent supporter of renewables so he must bear some of the responsibility for the shambles we are in. Moreover, he is also an admirer of Fidel Castro and it is therefore no surprise that his solution to the impending disaster seems to be little more than a different version of central planning.
So hold on to your seats. This promises to get interesting.