Exclusive:Not having new nuclear 'will cost Scotland more' than building new reactors

The Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) said that energy bills are higher than they need to be because Scotland spends so much money reducing power output.

Constraint payments are made to electricity generators when electricity generators are asked to turn off power because the grid is congested and cannot transport the power to where it is needed.

Payments have been higher since the closure of Hunterston B in 2022 - and are likely to increase when Torness - Scotland’s last remaining power station - shuts in 2030.

The UK Government has said that it would like to create mini nuclear reactors on the two sites in Ayrshire and East Lothian but the SNP - which holds powers over planning - opposes the measures.

NIA chief executive Tom Greatrex said: “There's an energy system cost.

“So if you don't have nuclear as part of your mix, or something that has the characteristic of nuclear - i.e. dispatchable, constantly available, low carbon power - then you’re going to have a system that has more sources of electricity general that are... the output is differential.

“Therefore that means you’re likely to have periods where you’re making significant constraint payments.

“And constraint payments in Scotland have been huge over the last couple of year.

“You look at that and think: ‘What are you paying for?’ Well you’re paying to turn generation off. So it’s costing a lot.

“But you’re not getting anything for it in terms of electricity. You’re not getting anything from it in terms of jobs, growth, economic activity, and you’re not getting anything from it in terms of energy security.

“It feels like the thing you should try to avoid doing. But we’re getting to a position where that becomes such a significant cost to consumers that you’ll end up costing consumers more than if you had nuclear as part of the mix.

“That calculation is being wilfully ignored by some in Scotland when they talk about the cost of electricity.

“Rather than considering that in terms of the cost of the system, they look at a very simplistic headline strike price for a form of generation.

“It isn’t actually the cost of electricity, it’s one element of it.

“I think it’s to the detriment of Scotland in terms of potential economic activity, therefore jobs, therefore tax revenue that will come from people in that employment and that investment, both in the supply chain and directly.”

He added: “By not doing nuclear, it’ll cost you more than doing it.”

By early December, electricity generators in Scotland had been paid £1.09 billion in constraint payments. This made it the most expensive year on record and was up 30 per cent from the previous year.

The cost of constraint payments is then pushed onto consumers’ bills.

The Scottish Government was approached for comment.