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The Scottish Government unveiled plans this week to meet its target of generating 20% of its energy needs from renewables by 2020.

The Renewables Action Plan published on Wednesday is the latest part of the Government’s actions on climate change in recent weeks.

According to Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth John Swinney, the plan will ensure that the right infrastructure and workforce skills are in place to drive an expansion of the renewables sector.

“Offshore wind, marine energy and renewable heat will now be a key focus due to the potential to generate clean energy, reduce emissions and the associated manufacturing and infrastructure opportunities,” he said.

Development agencies Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise will develop a framework for the necessary port and land infrastructure to support the manufacture, construction and operation of offshore wind, wave and tidal installations.

Swinney added that the Scottish Government will also invest in the renewable heat sector, which will be the subject of a separate action plan to be published later this summer.

“Heat from renewables needs to rise tenfold in the next decade and we will investigate all options to boost the sector, from large scale industrial plants, more energy from biomass and waste, through to microgeneration,” he said.

The Renewables Action Plan, which is now open for consultation, will be updated every six months to take account of the latest developments in technology and policy.

The Scottish Government will complete its low-carbon consultations with a routemap for carbon capture and storage by the end of the year, along with an action plan for energy efficiency.

For further information:
www.scotland.gov.uk/
www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/07/01093556/0

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