The Scottish Government is angry it will be overruled about fracking underneath homes in Scotland. Yesterday Business and Energy Minister Matt Hancock confirmed hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas will take place underneath homes without developers needing permission. Changes to the Infrastructure Bill will affect national oil and gas and geothermal projects taking place a mile […]

The Scottish Government gave the go-ahead for a 22-turbine wind farm in Dumfries and Galloway but rejected a similar-sized project in the Borders. Scotland’s Energy Minister Fergus Ewing approved the £65 million Ewe Hill project by Iberdrola’s ScottishPower unit, which will have a total capacity of 51MW. That would be equivalent to powering around 24,000 […]

It was a tale of two energy ministers in Aberdeen this week as the war of words over Scottish independence continued. Declaring Aberdeen would be a “loser” if Scotland votes to break away from England, the UK’s Business and Energy Minister Michael Fallon drew glum looks from Fergus Ewing, his Scottish counterpart. The pair was […]

A cash pot worth £15 million collected by the UK Government from the Scottish coal industry should be reinvested to restore opencast sites in Scotland, Energy Minister Fergus Ewing (pictured) has said. The Scottish Government claims Westminster is “ignoring” calls to help coalfields in Scotland and believes the cash should be put to “good use”.” […]

The Scottish Government is putting an additional £4 million towards the development of district heating networks. The cash will help fund projects including geothermal and solar heating which are expected to reduce pressure on household energy bills. Scotland has set a target of supplying 40,000 homes with affordable warmth and low carbon heat through district […]

A wind farm and a biomass project worth £390 million in total have been given the green light by the Scottish Government. Developer Eneco Wind UK will build the £65 million Moy wind farm near Inverness with 20 turbines. It will have a total capacity of up to 66MW – enough to power around 31,000 […]

Scotland’s oil and gas industry will “prosper and thrive with fiscal and regulatory stability” if the nation is independent, Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said. The Scottish Government would enhance the existing tax regime in a bid to maximise oil and gas recovery and increase North Sea development, “something UK Governments have failed to commit to”, […]

A ‘record’ two fifths of electricity used in Scotland came from renewable sources last year, official figure revealed. The latest energy statistics from DECC showed 40.3% of energy consumption in 2012 was met by the renewables sector – up from 36.3% the previous year and 24.1% in 2010. Scottish renewable electricity also made up 36% […]

Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing (pictured) has accused the UK Government of being “hell-bent on ploughing billions” into nuclear power stations but restricting support for renewable energy. The reaction comes after all three of Scotland’s planned offshore wind farms were excluded from a list of renewable energy projects that will be eligible for early support […]

Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing and the leaders of Scotland’s three island councils have announced plans to hold a summit on the future of wind power on the islands. It follows DECC’s announcement of the final strike price for the islands – £115/MWh compared to £90-95/MWh for mainland wind. There’s concern it’s a one size […]