The National Grid needs changing.
If the UK is to hit net zero by 2050, it needs to double the amount of electricity we currently generate to compensate for the gas and oil we will no longer use to power our cars and heat our homes. This requires a massive expansion in renewable sourced energy. It also means a multi-billion pound transformation to the national grid – after all, there’s no point generating lots of electricity if we don’t have the wiring to get it into communities.
Prior to those plans being drawn up, this paper calls for Scotland to be at the heart of this massive UK rewiring project. We need to learn from the introduction of wind power over the last 20 years. Britain failed to take full advantage: jobs that could have been created here were instead created abroad. As we turn to the equally huge task of rewiring the country, we argue that, this time, we develop the skills and the supply chain to create new jobs here.