The controversy generated by the proposal to upgrade the Beauly to Denny transmission line to accommodate 675kV of electricity has centred on the visual and environmental impact on cherished landscapes and important habitats, but also at stake have been Scotland’s economic potential as a generator and exporter of renewable energy, the future of the tourist industry and the effectiveness of the planning system.
The Scottish Government’s approval of the plan will not remove its contentiousness. That is acknowledged in attaching conditions intended to safeguard the environment, cultural heritage and tourism sector. Nevertheless, they will fail to satisfy many of the 18,000 objectors. In particular, the lack of a requirement for Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission and Scottish Power Transmission to produce costed alternatives based on subsea cables or reinforcing the existing east coast transmission line gives weight to the claim that these were not sufficiently explored. Given that the power line was first mooted almost a decade ago, and application made in 2005, this is a substantial omission.
There is technical advice that a subsea cable would not be a realistic alternative. It would, however, increase the viability of offshore wind farms, which have the advantages over onshore development of better access to wind and not being in anyone’s back yard. In addition, the National Grid is now proposing to develop subsea cables down both the east and west coasts of Scotland.
In a 21st-century democracy, a detailed, objective assessment of subsea transmission should have been made public and not left to claim and counter-claim. There are other controversial costs: most specifically, the effect on Scotland’s unique landscape of the 137-mile line of mega-pylons, many over 200ft high.
The scheme has been described by Cameron McNeish, mountaineer and wilderness champion, as “like taking a razor blade to a Rembrandt”. His claim bears scrutiny given the ability of Scotland’s landscape to inspire admiration. Jim Mather, the Energy Minister, makes much of the fact that the current 815 pylons will be reduced to 600 with consequent reduction of wiring. That is welcome, but it does not deal with the inappropriate scale of the new pylons.
Unspoiled scenery is the engine of the tourist industry on which so much of the economy depends. Unique places such as Schiehallion, the Fairy Hill, and the Corrieyairack Pass are important to Scots, not only for physical recreation but as tangible links with the life and legends of our ancestors.
Scenery, however, does not keep the lights on. In that regard, there are bigger issues, including the future of the planet. The Scottish Government is hell-bent on generating 50% of electricity from renewables and has set a world-leading target of a 42% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020. Such large-scale environmental gain, however, has smaller-scale environmental consequences, as the Beauly-Denny line demonstrates.
It raises again the environmental cost of the SNP’s policy of no nuclear generation beyond the life of the current power stations.
The power line is the price for the SNP’s belief that Scotland can be “the Saudi Arabia of green energy”. Scottish ministers have yet to convince the public that it is a price worth paying.
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