Green energy step welcome

VIKING Energy has welcomed the government’s pre-budget announce­ment that it is to extend its incentive scheme for renewable energy pro­jects until 2037.

The 10-year extension means that the support mechanism for green energy developments now offers significantly longer-term stability for developers and windfarm operators.

In his speech, chancellor Alistair Darling said the extension would “ensure that investors [in green technologies] can plan with confidence”.

Viking Energy project officer David Thomson said: “The govern­ment has extended the Renewables Obligation in order to give the com­panies behind proposed develop­ments the confidence to continue investing.

“This move will only help Scot­land meet its target of generating 50 per cent of all of our electricity needs from renewable resources by 2020. The proposed Viking wind­farm could make a major contri­bution to the challenges of tackling climate change and energy security.

“We remain convinced that the proposed 150-turbine development in Shetland would generate sub­stantial profits for the local com­munity even without any government incentive. However, this announce­ment can help reassure local people who have concerns about the risk of investing in the development.”

The Renewables Obligation came into force in April 2002 as part of the Utilities Act (2000). It is designed to ensure power suppliers source a specified proportion of the electricity they supply to their customers from renewables.

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