Caithness landscape will be ‘ruined by renewables’ unless SNP changes stance on nuclear, says Thurso councillor

A Thurso councillor has challenged the SNP on its anti-nuclear stance after saying Caithness is becoming overrun with renewables producing power that can’t be used.

Thurso and Northwest Caithness councillor Matthew Reiss says that it is time for the Scottish Government to “take a deep breath” and pause larger renewables developments in light of environmental damage, the huge power outages in Europe and the “inescapable fact” that the national grid is unable to cope with the huge amounts of power being produced.

“I very much hope that the SNP will take note that their own membership is saying that they need to change course and that a very, very expensive mistake is being made,” said Cllr Reiss.

“There is considerable environmental damage being incurred by the county in the drive towards net zero. Even as a lay person, it’s become very clear to me that the national grid is completely incapable of carrying any more power south.

“Constraint payments are running at £250 million per month across the UK, and these are paid by the taxpayers. It’s compounded by the fact that in the UK, especially in the far north, we are paying extraordinarily high electricity prices.”

Cllr Reiss says that wind turbine technology has become so effective at producing energy that the national grid has been unable to keep up with it.

“There is no wisdom in carrying on with more and more production of renewable power when it’s become so obvious that the grid will not be able to take it where it’s needed,” he said.

“It’s encouraging to see that the majority of people who vote SNP have realised that the system cannot function reliably in the future without having some form of backup power that can be built near where it’s needed.”

The councillor says that the “obvious answer in the minds of SNP voters” is nuclear power in England and near the places where the power is needed. “By building small modular reactors, or other forms of nuclear power, near where the power is going to be consumed, you would also avoid the need for hundreds of miles of very expensive and very ugly overhead pylons.”

Cllr Reiss talked about a graph from a Facebook group called ‘Not A Just Transition – Opposed To The Industrialisation Of Rural Scotland’ highlighting Scottish electricity generation over time. It shows CO₂ emissions flatlining around 2017, a steady growth in renewables capacity, a small decline in demand for power, and a huge spike in constraint payments in the last few years.

The National Energy System Operator (NESO), an independent public body responsible for planning and managing the UK’s electricity and gas systems, states: “It’s our job to keep the cost of running the system as low as possible, so we can keep energy bills down. One of the ways we do this is with constraint payments.

“When there are physical constraints on the network (i.e. the network cannot physically transfer the power from one region to another), we ask generators to reduce their output to maintain system stability and manage the flows on the network.

“Generators are then compensated via a constraint payment. The alternative is building more infrastructure at a significant cost, meaning higher bills for consumers.”

However, Energy Voice showed data from across 2024 detailing how constraint payments for Scottish wind farms totalled more than £390 million – paid for by UK consumers.

Cllr Reiss continued: “There’s a huge and growing glut of unusable power being produced already, far above what Scotland consumes. This graph sums up the financial wastefulness. It’s rapidly accelerating too. These payments are funded by taxpayers in our sky-high bills.”

He went on to refer to the new “electrical spine” that will run from the north of Scotland to north-west England and the visual effect this will have.

“Beatrice, the offshore wind farm near Wick, has been paid £1.2 billion, since it opened in 2018, in constraint payments. It is being paid not to produce power. The West of Orkney Windfarm will be almost four times bigger than Beatrice in the amount of power it produces.

“We will be producing 10 times more power than Scotland can use, and because the grid is incapable of transmitting this power to the south, we must pause these developments and take stock.”

Cllr Reiss believes that nuclear energy will protect the grid from the massive power cuts recently seen in Spain and Portugal. “Our grid will soon be even less stable unless there’s a pause in this out-of-control rush to net zero, whilst causing such unhappiness and even fear for some people right here in Caithness.”

Campaign group Britain Remade found that 52 per cent of SNP voters believe nuclear power should be included in Scotland’s energy mix to meet the 2045 net zero target.

The UK government’s aspiration to build new nuclear power plants in Scotland, referencing its “long history of nuclear power,” clashes with the Scottish Government’s firm stance against new nuclear developments.

Maree Todd SNP MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross said: "I know people have different views on how we get to net zero, how we manage new developments, and what a fair and sustainable energy system should look like.

“While nuclear power is often presented as part of the solution, it remains one of the most expensive options, with projects like Hinkley Point C billions over budget and years behind schedule.

“In contrast, Scotland’s net zero sector has grown by 20 per cent in the past two years alone, according to the CBI, and that progress is only accelerating.”

Ms Todd continued: "I recognise, however, the concerns in the constituency about the scale and pace of renewable energy developments, and frustration over the lack of clear, local benefits. That’s why I’m engaging with the Scottish Government on the issue of cumulative impact, and with the UK Government on energy market reform – to ensure local voices are heard and communities see meaningful benefits.

"I fully support a just transition to net zero and believe it can bring real opportunities for the Highland economy. I’ve always been clear, however, that developments must be the right fit for the area, with communities properly consulted and involved every step of the way."

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