North Ayrshire Council voted unanimously against Ayrshire Power's application for a coal-fired power station at Hunterston ("Power station plan dropped", The Herald, June 27).
The carbon-capture part of the plan was never technically feasible and doubts about funding have been persistent since Dong Energy withdrew from the consortium. The application's withdrawal is therefore welcome news for the community. It does, however, leave serious questions about the future of the Hunterston site and of the Scottish Government's commitment to achieve "100% green energy by 2020".
Energy Minister Fergus Ewing says the decision was a commercial one. That may be, but carbon capture and storage is a long way off delivering clean energy and Scotland and the UK face an energy gap in this decade. Nationalist ministers must tell us their plans to meet that energy gap, how they plan to deliver 100% green energy by 2020 and, just as importantly for local people, what part the Hunterston site plays in those plans.
Alex Gallagher,
12 Phillips Avenue,
Largs.
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