Island communities could get cut-price electricity from locally owned wind farms as part of Labour’s plan for a new nationalised clean energy company.
He revealed one of the key benefits of Labour’s promise to create GB Energy would be to enable people in remote locations to take part-ownership of wind farms and also receive cheaper tariffs from turbines close to their homes. “As well as plans for onshore wind farms in the Western Isles, several large offshore wind arrays are proposed for the Atlantic seaboard. To power our cities from the Atlantic edge, instead of coal-powered plants it requires a massive systems upgrade involving sub-sea cables, pylons, new power stations. In short, rewiring the entire UK electricity grid.
“The scale of the work – before a single light bulb is powered by Atlantic wind – is going to need the combined heft of both Scottish and UK governments, industry and island communities. It will make building HS2 look like a Hornby train set.”