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The SNP Westminster leader said energy-rich Scotland would no longer have to share with the UK, resulting in stronger energy security and smaller bills. The UK has been facing an ongoing rise in energy bills, with many voters faced with the prospect of having to choose whether to heat their homes or eat. Ian Blackford argued that independence would allow Scotland to minimise the growing costs and refocus the attention on greener policies.
Addressing the SNP Conference in Aberdeen, Mr Blackford said: “We know the scale of the opportunities that independence will offer.
“But we only have to look at the current context. Scotland is energy-rich – we simply shouldn’t be facing an energy emergency.
“We shouldn’t have cold homes and soaring bills. We produce six times more gas than we consume and nearly 100 percent of the equivalent of our electricity consumption already comes from renewables.
“This is Scotland’s energy and it should serve Scotland’s people.”
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Mr Blackford accused the Westminster Government of blocking Scotland’s potential to invest in green energy as he argued breaking away from the UK would secure Edinburgh powers to deliver on pursuing a new “green revolution.”
He continued: “We need to take the Westminster hand break off Scotland’s energy potential.
“The Westminster Group launched a new report mapping out the road ahead and the opportunities before us. From offshore and onshore wind, hydrogen, solar, tidal and carbon-capture, we have a golden opportunity to lead an energy transition that secures net zero, enhance energy security and lowers energy costs for consumers.
“By 2050, by expanding Scotland’s energy capacity and becoming a green hydrogen exporter, we have a chance to pump £34 billion into the Scottish economy every single year, an investment that could sustain 385,000 jobs.”
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The SNP Westminster leader added: “This is a real plan for growth – green, sustainable growth for the long term.
“Friends, the anti-growth Government must stop blocking that plan and its potential at every single turn because this is the new green revolution that independence offers. It is what Scotland’s future will be driven by.”
According to Government data, Scotland produced 18,568 GWh of renewable electricity in the first half of 22, a 29.2 percent increase on the same period the previous year.
Currently, Scotland is joined to the rest of Great Britain by an integrated energy market comprising both electricity and gas supplies.
Under the proposals the Scottish Government put forward ahead of the 2014 referendum, the joint network would continue to exist in the case of independence.
In a white paper outlining the approach Edinburgh would take, the SNP Government stated that “regardless of its source, Scottish generation is now essential to ensuring the lights stay on across these islands.”
Latest reports have shown Scotland is currently leading UK renewable efforts, delivering 25 percent of the country’s renewable electricity.
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