ALEX Salmond has led a chorus of condemnation after the UK Government abandoned a £1 billion flagship carbon capture and storage project at Longannet, in Fife, with one MSP describing the decision as a "kick in the teeth" for the local community.
The First Minister was joined by union leaders and environmentalists after he described the collapse of the project, which he explained was exactly what was needed in the current economic climate, as “an enormous lost opportunity”.
After The Herald revealed the Government’s intentions yesterday, Energy Secretary Chris Huhne brought forward his announcement that he was to abandon the project.
Mr Huhne later told MPs it had not been possible to reach a satisfactory deal between the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), and the carbon capture and storage consortium, comprising ScottishPower, National Grid and Shell.
The Coalition had put up £1bn of public money for the scheme but the commercial companies believed that £1.5bn would be needed to make it viable.
Mr Salmond said a successful scheme would have required “vision and courage”, qualities, he said, which had been lacking in successive Westminster governments.
Mr Salmond added: “While responsibility lies with DECC, the Scottish Government co-operated extremely closely with Chris Huhne and his colleagues and did everything we could over a long period of time to help make this project happen.”
Dunfermline SNP MSP Bill Walker pledged to fight to save the plant from a “scandalous betrayal”. He said: “This is a real kick in the teeth by the Westminster Government, especially to everyone who has been working so hard on this project for years.
“What makes it even worse is that this announcement could be devastating for the local coal industry.”
STUC assistant secretary Stephen Boyd said the decision would have “disastrous consequences”.
He said: “At a stroke, first mover advantage in a key emerging global industry is lost and with it potentially thousands of quality skilled jobs. Energy policy at UK and Scottish level is now in tatters.”
Dr Richard Dixon, director of environmental charity WWF Scotland, said: “Four years have effectively been wasted in the battle to tackle climate change.”
Mr Salmond said the decision was as bad as when the previous UK Government abandoned the Peterhead pre-combustion gas carbon capture project four years ago.
He added: “The UK Government’s electricity market reform process is undermining industry confidence and investment planning, with higher costs due to the carbon floor price and uncertainty over long-term support for carbon capture and storage.
“Between public and private investment, Longannet would have been a £2bn investment, exactly what is needed in the present economic climate. It underlines the need for a Scottish energy strategy so we have proper planning and apply our energy wealth of today to ensure we are equipped for the technologies of tomorrow.
“We are led to believe that Peterhead is a contender for a future gas carbon capture project, but that was supposed to be the case four years ago.
“From Scotland’s perspective, history has already repeated itself with the failure to proceed with Longannet, and what guarantees are there that we will not be disappointed yet again?”
Mr Huhne said the £1bn funding would be available for other projects.
Shadow Energy Secretary Tom Greatrex said it was “utterly perplexing” that an agreement could not be reached with the consortium. He added: “Longannet would test a potentially revolutionary technology that could help not just Scotland, but the whole of western Europe, meet climate emissions targets.”
Green Party leader Patrick Harvie said the technology involved had always been “pretty speculative”. “This decision must now concentrate ministerial minds on proven renewable technologies,” he added.
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