Yesterday, I had the opportunity to spend the day in Glasgow visiting ScottishPower’s Head office and Scotland’s Innovation Centre in my role as Shadow Business, Innovation and Energy Minister.
At the Scottish Power’s Headquarters, I discussed promising and innovating zero emmissions projects. These projects include electric vehicles and ways to utilize wind energy. Following discussions of these projects, I was shown an overview of the National Grid and how community sources of energy are now contributing to the energy input across Scotland.
Even more importantly, I learned that in order to achieve Scotland’s ambitious EV roll-out plan, restrictions on investment must be lifted from Ofgem. Scottish Power and I both share concerns that, without reviews of these restrictions and support from the Scottish Government, Scotland will fail to meet ambitious zero-emissions targets.
Following my trip to ScottishPower HQ, I visited the Construction Innovation Centre in Hamilton. Stephen Good, CEO, explained to me how they are working to promote collaborative working with Academia and Industry to create progressive and promising new processes in construction. Their hope is that such processes can create quicker, greater value, and less expensive products.
I look forward to hearing more about the efforts and continued progress of both organisations, who touch on so many sectors, to help deliver Scotland’s zero-emissions target while maintaining affordability and quality.