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Wednesday, 9th July 2008

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Salmond push for power 'supergrid'



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ALEX Salmond, the First Minister, yesterday set out the case for an energy "supergrid" to maximise the country's renewables potential.
He said the Scottish Government was keen to work with its north European neighbours on the project.

Mr Salmond was speaking after meeting the Irish power firm Airtricity in Dublin. The firm, which is to be taken over by Scottish and Southern Energy, was the original proposer of plans to develop a European offshore supergrid.

"We must harness the opportunities posed by our natural resources and I firmly believe developing the concept of a supergrid will enable us to do this," Mr Salmond said.

"The north and east coasts of Scotland, the west coasts of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands and the north coast of Germany have a huge potential for capturing offshore wind, wave and tidal energy."





The full article contains 144 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

 
1

Royster,

15/02/2008 05:07:05
Yes, potential says it all. Economically viable? Not yet. Is Salmond going to hose away tons of your cash on some crazed Norwegian/Scottish joint-venture wind farm with golf course to support his delusions? Maybe.
2

GalacticCannibal,

Murrieta 15/02/2008 05:33:47
Salmond push for power 'supergrid'
----------------------------------------

He's at it again . Maybe in his dreams he thinks he is another Obama Hussein Barack .

'supergrid' Alex is again reading to many American comics.

Gc
3

williamx,

canada 15/02/2008 06:33:25
Wind farm development needs either pumped storage or standby capacity to cover when the wind is not blowing which is about 70% of the time on average. The UK grid is made for large power generators which do not vary in power output. Hence the need for a super grid to absorb the ups and downs from wind power. With everybody into wind power, the system will not work unless major conventional producers ramp down their output. Why should they do this or is the price of electricity going to go sky high to accommodate having their equipment standing idle.
Canadian Provinces power costs 6c/kw ( all production owned by the Province)
US States below the border power costs 11c/Kw ( all owned by private enterprise)
UK power costs 12 pence/Kw =24c/Kw ( all owned by private enterprise)
Don't you think your costs are high enough?

4

Isonomia,

Lenzie 15/02/2008 06:55:55
Why is it that the Scots electricity consumer is paying for English consumers to meet their renewable energy target? In 2000, the UK set a renewable target, devolution gave us the right to decide how to achieve this, we already had huge amounts of Hydro, and therefore have met this target every year from 2000-2008 without the consumer spending any of the millions funding wind.

However, England set itself a target that it should produce electricity equivalent to 10% of consumption, but forgot that around 7% of electricity gets lost in the transmission network meaning that the incentives could never hope to deliver its obligation.

The truth is that Scots have been set a higher 18% target purely to compensate for the failure of the English to meet their renewable target.

And my electricity bill has just gone up again ... if Alex Salmond had an ounce of integrity he would demand the hundreds of millions of pounds that have been stolen from Scottish consumers back!
5

Isonomia,

Lenzie 15/02/2008 07:05:51
If England needs Scottish wind farms, then why doesn't England pay for this electrict, indeed, why doesn't the Scots government aim to turn this subsidy junky of a sector into an export earning industry and let them earn their keep!
6

eddylongshanks,

15/02/2008 08:32:46
lol, Lenzie, its such a simple world isnt it ?
7

P Gardner,

Glasgow 15/02/2008 09:10:11
Isonomia, we went through all this yesterday. I knocked down exactly the arguments you are using again today. Either you are being intellectually dishonest or you're deluded.
8

dachaidh,

rhu 15/02/2008 09:38:06
Hang on... didn't the scottish gorment just block two windfarms [penicuik and the western isles one]?
9

Gdgy,

dundee 15/02/2008 10:25:04
Mixed mesages form wee LEc!
Minded not to allow the wind farm on LEwis but happy to talk big on a pan-European stage - the man just likes his own voice and loves to play on the wider stages....
10

Foulkes Off the CyberNat,

Edinburgh 15/02/2008 11:13:01
1 Royster

There ye go again 2 feet nae brains.
What sourses do you have available to you that the Scottish Government doesnt have available to them to make a decision on this issue what do you think you know that they dont? are you now one of the worlds leading experts on renewables? as well as one of the worlds leading military defence experts?
Dont you ever tire of making an a*se of yersel?
11

Sanny,

15/02/2008 13:23:58
10 Foulkes Off the CyberNat
When it comes to belittling Alex or SNP or Nationalists in general then Royster doesn't require facts, any fanciful dream will do.
He's a propagandist not in for debate.
12

Niall,

Fraserburgh 15/02/2008 15:33:11
#1 & #2

Are you ashamed to be Scottish? Alex Salmond tells us the vision he has for a vibrant, economically powerful Scotland and you can do is knock him and his vision. Shame on you because your personal 'Scottish cringe' is still alive and putting our nation down.

'S mise le meas
Niall.
13

Neil,

Glasgow 15/02/2008 18:18:26
Desperation. He clearly knows we are going to have massive blackouts if we don't go nuclear.

Does he hope that Norway's considerable hydro capacity is going to keep the lights on in all these countries?
14

Colin, Glasgow,

15/02/2008 23:11:34
It's peculiar that the article doesn't mention costs. It's usually the first thing a journalist asks.

Here's Airtricity's page on the supergrid.
http://www.airtricity.com/ireland/wind_farms/supergrid/

"The cost of power is estimated to be EUR77/MWhr in the first 25 years, and EUR48/MWhr for years 26 to 50."
That's quite cheap for offshore wind.
15

CROSSED GEORGE,

England 13/03/2008 01:14:14
Isonomia,Lenzie 15/02/2008 07:05:51
If England needs Scottish wind farms, then why doesn't England pay for this electrict, indeed, why doesn't the Scots government aim to turn this subsidy junky of a sector into an export earning industry and let them earn their keep!

You just cannot help yourselves, you cannot discuss anything without bringing England into, your obsessed.

For the record, we will have the £400 million of our taxpayers money back spent on YOUR parliament building.
16

CROSSED GEORGE,

13/03/2008 01:15:47
Isonomia,Lenzie 15/02/2008 07:05:51
If England needs Scottish

NO ITS THE OTHER WAY AROUND
17

Aquifer,

Belfast 23/04/2008 07:29:16
"The cost of power is estimated to be EUR77/MWhr in the first 25 years, and EUR48/MWhr for years 26 to 50."
That's quite cheap for offshore wind.

And cheaper than heating your house with heating oil. So why do people talk as if nuclear is really an option?

Psychologists have found that testosterone levels rise each time a man is successful, but that heightened levels lead to reckless risk taking. So to appear macho and dominant, advocate nuclear.
18

David Ban,

04620 Vera 24/04/2008 09:01:58
15# The Scots did not want to pay £400,000,000 for their new parliament building! The Scots architectural firms were not allowed near to propose their designs or plan the finance.
Donald Dewar and his cronies selected the Spanish architect and the budgets were planned and proposed by civil servants. They were clueless.

 

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