'Energy bills will rise' without new power lines, claims renewables industry group Scottish Renewables
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A renewable energy industry trade body has said objectors who do not like the look of pylons need to understand that grid upgrades are essential.
Nick Sharpe, the director of communications and strategy at Scottish Renewables, said Scotland urgently needs more pylons, power lines and substations to cut energy bills, create energy security and tackle climate change.
The group has just published a report which claims that Scotland needs more pylons now to bolster the UK's "outdated" electricity network.
The report also claims that without new power lines, pylons and substations to support the predicted growth in renewable capacity, constraint payments to energy companies could add a further £200 to energy bills by 2030.
Communities across the Highlands have been angered by plans to install a new overhead power line from Spittal in Caithness to Beauly, via Loch Buidhe in Sutherland.
Objectors claim the proposals would damage the natural beauty of the Highlands, with some arguing that there is no evidence that the new power lines are needed.
Mr Sharpe said: “Electricity demand is set to increase by 50 per cent in the next decade and double by mid-century so it’s therefore wrong to say that Scottish households don’t need more power lines, pylons and substations, we need them to keep our homes warm and ensure the lights stay on.
“Groups and individuals who object to the construction of power lines, pylons and substations largely do so because they do not like the way they look."
The report states that households across the UK paid a total of £1.94 billion to wind farms for turbines that had to be turned off because the national electricity grid couldn’t cope with the power they would have produced – so-called constraint payments. "Without new power lines, pylons and substations that figure could surpass £3.5 billion in 2030 – a near-£200 increase in annual electricity bills for British households."
Horrified residents in Inverness-shire, Ross-shire and Sutherland have held public meetings and say they will fight plans to build giant electricity substations and march supersized pylons through large swathes of countryside.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) is running public consultations on proposals for a 400 kilovolt (kV) overhead power line connecting Spittal in Caithness to Beauly, via Loch Buidhe in Sutherland.
Fanellan, on Lovat Estate lands, is the preferred site for one of three new substations, branded a “monstrosity” by some locals around Beauly.
Another high voltage line is planned from Peterhead to Beauly, linking with the existing Beauly to Denny pylon line.
If the latest line is given the green light, residents in and around Kiltarlity, Cabrich, Breakachy and Aigas would be directly impacted by the convergence of the three power lines carried on 57m (180ft) high pylons.
Objectors say the project – part of SSEN’s £7 billion "Pathway to 2030" upgrade of UK energy infrastructure in the north of Scotland – would blight views, generate noise and light pollution, and destroy natural habitats. They are also concerned about the adverse health impacts of giant pylons and substations.
However, the Scottish Renewables report says that saying no to power lines, pylons and substations because of how they look holds back economic growth in the north of Scotland and that electricity transmission infrastructure is at the heart of facilitating our journey to net-zero.
It argues that investment in electricity networks will be essential to unlock skills and training opportunities, deliver a boost to local supply chains and make progress towards net-zero by bringing more renewables onto the grid.
