The SNP’s misinformation campaign on Scottish renewables

SNP MP Stephen Flynn was emphatic when he used a certain statistic in Parliament last month: ‘Scotland’s potential in this regard is huge – absolutely enormous… We have 25 per cent of Europe’s offshore wind capacity – 25 per cent!’ he told his audience. It is not the first time Flynn has used the statistic, and neither is he the only SNP MP, or MSP, to use it.

‘With more than 25 per cent of Europe’s capacity in wind energy, Scotland is set to become a massive producer and exporter of renewable energy,’ wrote Angus Robertson MSP, the SNP’s External Affairs and Culture Secretary at Holyrood, in a newspaper column in January. And just a few weeks ago he tweeted: ‘With 25 per cent of Europe’s renewable wind potential Scotland is well placed to be a major hydrogen exporter to the rest of Europe.’

In March, the 25 per cent figure was cited in the Scottish government’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation paper.