Scottish onshore wind industry can cut costs by 20%
Published August 2016
Scotland’s next generation of onshore wind farms could be at least 20% cheaper if the Scottish and UK governments work with industry and regulators to remove barriers, according to Everoze’s report ‘Onshore Wind in Scotland – reducing costs, enhancing value’ commissioned by Scottish Renewables.
Scottish Renewables commissioned Everoze to undertake an analysis of onshore wind costs and revenues with the aim of providing industry and government stakeholders with an objective assessment of a range of opportunities and interventions which could reduce the levelised cost of onshore wind energy in Scotland. This report presents qualitative and quantitative assessments of selected opportunities, across three broad themes; planning, grid and revenue.
The report’s recommendations include:
- Industry could cut onshore wind costs by more than £150m a year by making a series of changes. For example, installing the latest generation of wind turbines could cut costs by £11/MWh, while extending the life of existing ones would also make onshore cheaper;
- Savings could be made by introducing more flexible ways to connect onshore wind to the grid and reducing the amount developers have to pay to connect;
- The consenting process could be made more coherent
- Guidance on how to maximise the potential benefits from redeveloping, replanting and repowering existing wind farms needs to be developed;
- The need to adopt smart grid connections; and
- Deployment of energy storage.
Scottish Renewables senior policy manager Lindsay Roberts said: “The report sets out just how competitive onshore wind in Scotland can be, and shows that it makes no sense for the UK government to exclude the technology from long-term contracts for clean power.”
Further information:
The report can be downloaded here: Onshore Wind in Scotland – reducing costs, enhancing value
If you would like to discuss Scottish Onshore Wind further, please contact Everoze Partner via contact@everoze.com
