Moving Beyond Coal

Scottish Power has confirmed it will be a player in next summer’s auction for government subsidies in offshore wind-farms after making history this month when it became the first major UK energy company to generate all of its future electricity from green energy.

It comes following the sale by Iberdrola of the Scottish gas, hydro and pumped storage plants to Drax, for just over £702m. ($922m). It includes the Cruachan hydro station which was built inside a mountain.

The move benefits Drax’s strategy to leave behind coal-generated electricity and focus on supporting the UK’s increasing renewable capacity. It intends on achieving this by 2025.

Its CEO Will Gardiner told Reuters: “We are really committed to moving beyond coal but at the same time we do have to reach to what the market is saying. We see an energy system in 2050 when 85 percent of the electricity comes from wind and solar but there will need to be another 15 percent which we see coming from gas and biomass.”

Scottish Power has followed through on its plan over the past ten years to close all of its coal plants and now controls 2,700 MW of wind power capacity in existing and under construction farms across the UK. It has ambitions to bring that up to 3,000. The company wants to win a contract in the £557m auction for its East Anglia Three project. This has the ability to power almost 900,000 homes using 172 turbines generating 1200 MW.

Ignacio Gala, chair of Iberdrola, which owns Scottish Power, said: “Iberdrola is acting now to cut carbon emissions 30% by 2020 and be carbon neutral by 2050.”

Keith Anderson, Scottish Power’s CEO added: “This is a pivotal shift for Scottish Power as we realise a long-term ambition. We are leaving carbon generation behind for a renewable future powered by cheaper green energy.”

And its interest doesn’t lie solely with wind farms. After the sale to Drax it announced plans to invest in solar power for the first time. Anderson told The Guardian: “The solar market has had difficulties over the last week while. But you look at where the technology cost is getting to and the possibilities of integrating it with wind… how it balances from season to season wind and solar output, and we see a good opportunity there for future investment.”

Though Scottish Conservative energy spokesman Alexander Burnett warned against rising prices for customers, saying the move “may well be an honourable enough objective” Anderson argued that it’s critical that energy companies take a stand. “Look at the IPCC report… My absolute belief is that organisations need to be at the forefront of that change. We can’t be the problem, we have to be part of the solution.”