STA Scotland: Scotland needs to develop “ambitious” solar plan
The report also claims that the country also needs to establish financial support mechanisms for solar projects, along with actively supporting widespread energy storage installations for both electricity and heat at all levels, while also examining the possibility of co-locating solar and wind farms or placing them within the same broad geographical area.
The paper, ‘Key solar asks for the Scottish Government’, outlines twenty key areas that the STA Scotland believes should be prioritised if Scotland is to achieve absolute renewable generation within the next four years, with the association suggesting a target of 2GW for solar PV and 200,000 meters squared, or 141MWth for solar thermal, by 2020, arguing that the goals are “both ambitious and achievable.”
The need to address major grid constraints, reconsider the proposed removal of the Renewable Energy Generation Relief Scheme, introduce a Scottish replacement for the Green Deal and make the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) register for domestic and non-domestic buildings publicly available are all cited as key measures to be implemented, along with putting forward ambitious carbon emissions reduction regulations for new builds in the next round of Scottish Building Standards.
John Forster, Chairman of STA Scotland and of Scottish solar business Forster Energy, believes there are a number of simple, practical things the Scottish Government can do to boost solar in the country, including encouraging wind and solar to share grid capacity and making changes to planning regulations.
“We are keen that the Scottish Government looks at options to establish its own financial support mechanisms for solar to bridge the gap between now and the early 2020s when we hope to see mainstream solar projects become subsidy-free,” he said.
“We are optimistic that the next few years will be good for solar in Scotland. There is scope for Scotland to lead the way within the UK, encouraging markets for solar on residential homes, commercial rooftops, new build homes and buildings and solar farms.”
Scotland is over half way to reaching its 100 per cent renewable generation target, with the country currently having over 7.5GW of renewables, while wind met 48 per cent of the nation’s electric power in January.
