ENA sets out Scottish manifesto priorities
Ahead of the elections to the Scottish Government, the Energy Networks Association (ENA) sets out the networks’ priorities for supporting a new administration in tackling the climate crisis.
The ENA outlined five priority areas including:
- Align the RIIO framework with Scotland’s energy plans
- Refine the planning system to support the infrastructure of the future
- Make Scotland an international centre for green gas
- Drive the nation-wide roll-out of electric vehicle infrastructure
- Make sure Scottish homes are heated efficiently and without carbon
As the transition to net zero progresses, government and industry must get the right technologies in the right place at the right time to continue to ramp-up renewables and decarbonise the ‘difficult to reach’ sectors like heat, transport, and industry, the ENA said.
Strategic investment in the energy networks is foundational to all plans set out by Scottish political parties, and the regulatory environment needs to enable this across the next ten years, according to the association.
While the pandemic is ongoing, the networks have continued to innovate and work towards net-zero, the ENA claimed. Now, with lockdowns once again lifting, the focus of the energy networks is to support the green recovery ambitions of the incoming Scottish Government, it said.
The ENA also claimed that innovation will be at the forefront of the next investment round with technologies like battery storage, renewables, heat pumps and the electrification of transport through the installation of electric vehicle hubs and rapid charging at motorway service stations.
David Smith, chief executive of Energy Networks Association, said: “Past Scottish Governments have set a high bar for action on climate change and now all parties have made it clear that their priority for this Parliament is a green Covid recovery.
“It’s now imperative that we seize the opportunity of this consensus to align policy and regulation with ambition. We look forward to working with the new government to make that ambition a reality.”
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