An Energy Strategy for Scotland

That the Parliament notes with concern the latest threats to the continued operation of Longannet Power Station in Fife, contributing 25% of Scotland’s electricity output at its peak; urges Scottish Power and National Grid to work toward a resolution of the transmission charging issue, but recognises that EU emissions rules and carbon pricing mean that the future of Longannet beyond 2020 is very uncertain; further notes that Scotland’s two nuclear power stations, at Torness and Hunterston, which produced 35% of Scotland’s electricity output between them in 2013, are due to close by 2025; acknowledges the significant loss of electricity generating capacity that this is likely to cause in the next decade; notes that renewable energy, while having a part to play in the energy mix, cannot supply baseload from intermittent sources and that the Scottish Government is opposed to any new nuclear stations being built, and calls on the Scottish Government to bring forward as a matter of urgency a new energy strategy, setting out how new generating capacity will be created to ensure that the lights are kept on without Scotland having to rely on importing energy from the rest of the UK.