Expansion of Peterhead gas power station would be disaster for climate
If the Scottish Government is serious about reducing carbon emissions and acting on the climate emergency it must halt proposals to expand the gas-fired power station in Peterhead, say the Scottish Greens.
The party’s MSP for North East Scotland, Maggie Chapman, has called for the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, Gillian Martin, to refuse the application from energy giants SSE and Equinor.
The existing power station is already Scotland’s single biggest polluter, and the impact would be made even worse by increasing its gas-burning facilities.
The new power station, which would be built alongside the existing plant, would be equipped with carbon capture technology (CCS), a controversial and experimental technology that has consistently failed to live up to its lofty promises.
Ms Chapman said: “If the Scottish Government is serious about delivering the climate action that is so vital then it will reject this reckless and dangerous proposal.
“We are in a climate emergency and we should not be extracting and burning even more fossil fuels. It would be a disaster for our climate and would lock us into further gas extraction based on unfounded and unproven carbon capture and storage.
“What SSE and Equinor are proposing would be climate vandalism at the worst possible time.
“Instead of expanding what is already Scotland’s most polluting site, the Scottish Government should be investing in genuine, worker and community led projects that will deliver the transformations we need to see in our energy economy.
“Renewable energy is the cleanest, greenest and cheapest energy available. That is where we should be focusing resources, not on the wishful thinking and empty promises of polluters.”
