In an age where all our lives are completely reliant on a constant and reliable electricity supply, it seems irresponsible for both the UK and Scottish Governments to incentivise the switch to unreliable sources.
At least the Labour government accepts that nuclear power has a huge part to play in securing our energy future, unlike the SNP which is still wedded to a protest movement like it’s the 1950s.
The resulting enthusiasm for Goldilocks wind energy – either too much or too little – means that storage systems are needed and at the moment that means acres of battery units in what looks like vast lorry parks with no wheels on the trailers.
Risks of fires may be small, but can’t be ruled out, so where these things are built is sensitive, and I support Currie Community Council’s decision to oppose plans for a battery energy storage system (BESS) next to the Riccarton Garden Centre and very close to homes.
Change isn’t easy, but there is no need for the huge infrastructure associated with renewable energy – and that includes the vast, power-hungry data centres, such as the one proposed for a site on the other side of Heriot Watt University’s Riccarton campus – to be so close to houses when so little is known about their impact.
A hundred years ago, coal-fired power stations and gasworks were built near homes because they needed to be, but the full impact of the fumes wasn’t fully appreciated, not least because most of the population smoked anyway. Thankfully we live in different times.
