Scottish Renewables has welcomed fresh commitment from Westminster

Jenny Hogan, Director of Policy for Scottish Renewables, said: "The UK Government's commitment to provide extra support for renewable generators on the Scottish islands will help reassure investors who are faced with the highest grid connection charges in the UK - but we can't afford to waste any time.

"The islands have huge potential for wind, wave and tidal energy, and can make a substantial contribution to the growth of renewables and the cleaning up of our energy sector. Likewise, local economies would receive a massive boost from the likely investment and jobs that could be created by projects on the islands."

Responding to the publication of draft strike prices for renewable energy technologies, Ms Hogan, said: "This is an important announcement for the industry as we have been waiting for some time to learn of what levels of support we can expect from 2014. Knowing your strike price is just part of the picture; we now need to see the details of the contracts to put them into context, which won't be published until August. Only then can we judge if the levels will be sufficient to encourage the investment needed to meet our targets.

"The process of Electricity Market Reform is very long and incredibly complex, but the challenge now is for us to ensure that the government's proposals can deliver the huge investment in renewables needed to meet our shared goals for 2020."