CLIMATE campaigners have urged First Minister John Swinney to reject “disastrous” proposals for the construction of a gas-burning power station in north-east Scotland.
A coalition of 44 environmental groups, including Oxfam, Fuel Poverty Action and Friends of the Earth Scotland, has condemned the joint plan by Scottish energy firm SSE and Norwegian oil giant Equinor for a new electricity-generating facility next to the existing power plant near Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.
In a letter to ministers, the group warns that the present power station has been the country’s “single biggest polluter” for the last five years and claims that any expansion would lock Scots into paying energy bills set by international gas markets.
Ministers are set to decide whether to approve the planning application, which proposes an expansion of the existing site with a new 910-megawatt gas-burning power station and carbon capture plant, which SSE and Equinor have said will slash emissions.
Naomi Tilley, campaign lead at climate group Oceana, described the proposals as “downright stupidity."
If approved, the plans could run into the 2050s, despite the Scottish government’s target of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2045.
Ministers face even more pressure to reject the proposal after the Scottish government scrapped the 2030 interim climate target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 75 per cent, with campaigners warning that the 2045 target would be jeopardised if the project receives the green light.
Friends of the Earth Scotland campaigner Alex Lee said: “Organisations from across Scottish society are calling on ministers to reject this disastrous development, which will only further enrich greedy energy companies at a huge cost to Scottish households and the climate."
Lucia Harrington of Fuel Poverty Action said the proposal could lead to Scots “relying on expensive gas for decades.”
A Scottish government spokesman said it was fully committed to a just transition to a climate resilient and net-zero Scotland by 2045, but that it would not be appropriate to comment on a live planning application.
