Scottish Government proposals on community benefit are “deeply underwhelming”

Scottish Liberal Democrat energy spokesperson Liam McArthur has today hit out at “deeply underwhelming” Scottish Government plans for community benefit from renewable energy developments, published today.

The proposals, which will now be consulted on, would see:

• A recommended £6,000 per MW per year community benefit payment for onshore wind. This is a real terms cut from the £5,000 per MW per year set out in 2014 once inflation has been accounted for.

• A recommended £150 per MW per year for battery energy storage systems (BESS) despite many developments already going beyond this.

• A failure to set out a recommended level of community benefit for hydropower generation, pumped hydro storage and commercial-scale bioenergy.

Liam McArthur MSP said:

“Scottish Liberal Democrats have been campaigning to increase the rates paid out by these projects for years.

"These deeply underwhelming proposals fall far short of what communities, councils and campaigners have been demanding. Highland Council have called for it to be £12,500 per megawatt per year, more than twice what SNP ministers are offering.

“People have seen their energy bills double in the last decade, yet the amount that developers are expected to chip in is actually lower in real terms than it was in 2014.

“That’s despite many communities undergoing enormous upheaval to host turbines, pylons and battery storage plants.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats are strong believers in expanding Scottish renewables but there needs to be something in it for those who are seeing their communities change before their eyes.

"In particular, each pumped storage facility could inject tens of millions of pounds into local areas but failing to cover them in these rules puts all of that at risk.

“These plans are a recipe for the Scottish Government losing hearts and minds in rural, highland and island communities.”