Wind farms, either under construction or newly completed, in the North Sea all agreed to sell power to the grid at low fixed prices under the government’s “Contracts for Difference” (CfD) scheme.
However, newly completed wind farms are delaying taking up their CfDs because they can earn much higher prices on the open market.
Moray East, a huge wind farm off the Scottish coast, recently reached full operational capacity but announced that it was delaying taking up its CfD contract until 2023. Electricity consumers will potentially have to pay this one wind farm an extra £500 million in its first 12 months of operations.
CfD contracts allow a great deal of flexibility on start dates, with delays of up to three years possible, so £500m could turn out to be £1.5 billion. Remember this is just for one wind farm, with more to come.
I never thought I would say this but surely it is time to nationalise the wind industry which is mostly owned by foreign investors.
Clark Cross.
Holyrood an expensive mistake
Latest figures show that even people earning up to £33,000 will be facing austerity in the coming years as prices soar.
It is urgent we consider saving money wherever we can, and getting rid of Holyrood would save a fortune and rid ourselves of a layer of government we simply do not need.
We have given Holyrood a good trial but it has been a financial and economic disaster for Scotland, for education and health, with millions of taxpayers’ money poured down the drain by the Scottish Government.
Scotland deserves better.
Dennis Forbes Grattan, Aberdeen.