Scotland could lose a £3 billion investment due to a UK Government decision to close an energy support scheme.

Niall Stuart, Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, stated how the UK Government's decision to close the Renewables Obligation a year earlier than planned is "neither fair nor reasonable."

He said: "Scottish Renewables completely rejects the UK Government’s rationale for cutting support for onshore wind.

"We believe this decision could put around two gigawatts of onshore wind projects in Scotland at risk. These are projects that could provide the equivalent electricity demand of 1.23 million Scottish homes and significantly improve our energy security, while bringing around £3 billion pounds of investment.

"A recent report by the UK Government estimated that there are 5,400 jobs in the onshore wind sector in Scotland, and many of these could now be at risk. Early closure of the Renewables Obligation will also serve to damage investor confidence, not only in the onshore wind industry, but in the wider UK energy sector."

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The Government announcement lays out plans to close the Renewables Obligation across Great Britain to new onshore wind form 1 April 2016.

Mr Stuart said: "Onshore wind is the cheapest form of renewable electricity we can deploy at scale, so removing financial support completely undermines the goal of cutting carbon emissions as cost-effectively as possible, and actually risks increasing consumer bills."

Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said the end of support for the onshore wind sector was 'regrettable', adding 70% of onshore wind projects in the UK planning system are in Scotland.

He said: "This announcement goes further than what had been previously indicated. It is not the scrapping of a ‘new’ subsidy that was promised but a reduction of an existing regime - and one under which companies and communities have already planned investment."

Commenting on the announcement, Stuart Brooks, Chief Executive of the John Muir Trust, said: "This is the right time for the UK Government to work out an energy mix that is affordable and meets the climate change targets and our energy needs, without permanently damaging our wild and natural landscapes."

(LM)