Scotland's Energy Minister, Fergus Ewing, has responded to the UK Government's decision to build a nuclear power station.

In a statement, Mr Ewing said: "Today's announcement confirms that consumers across the UK will be paying for nuclear generation until after the middle of this century. The single nuclear station at Hinkley could be eligible for consumer funded payments totalling around £1 billion per year, depending on wholesale prices.

"These payments will apply for the length of the contract being awarded – which, at 35 years, dwarfs the 15 years being offered to renewable energy technologies.

"The cost of this single station alone is comparable to the £43 billion which the UK Government's budget is assigned for all energy technologies between 2013/14 and 2020/21 and risks squeezing out home grown developments for imported nuclear technology.

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"This UK Government's misguided enthusiasm for nuclear comes at a time when other countries, such as Germany and EDF's home nation France, are either eliminating or scaling back their dependence on nuclear generation and when we should be putting the support to our renewables energy industry and the jobs it will support across the country.

"The guarantee of support and subsidy under this contract until after the middle of this century also sits in sharp contrast with the lack of a UK Government commitment to support our offshore renewables sector and its potential beyond 2020."

He continued: "The Scottish Government has an ambitious but achievable target to generate the equivalent of 100% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020, alongside generation from thermal sources fitted with carbon capture and storage.

"Nuclear energy cannot be relied on for our energy needs. The output from Scottish nuclear generation fell to historic lows in 2006 and 2007 due to unplanned outages. Although output has increased since then, nuclear generation has not yet recovered to its pre 2006 levels.

"This underlines the susceptibility of nuclear to sudden interruptions, and supports the Scottish Government's drive towards a balanced energy portfolio, based on cleaner thermal generation and the advantages which our huge renewables potential offers to Scotland."

(JP/CD)