Question reference: S6W-27300
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 7 May 2024
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Current status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 17 May 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it is not emulating the approach of the Danish Energy Agency by taking a 20% state ownership share in the development of new offshore wind farms.
Answer
We are committed to maximising the public benefits of our renewables revolution and will explore all options open to us to do so.
ScotWind reflects very significant market ambition for offshore wind in Scottish waters and will deliver over £750m in revenues to the public purse in initial option fees.
INTOG projects offer a further significant potential revenue stream for the Scottish Government, amounting to up to £261m in option fees if these are converted to full option agreements.
We are already investing these revenues in our journey to net zero, and the Scottish Budget sets out the multi-million pound investment in 2024-25 to ensure the Scottish workforce, businesses and communities all benefit from the offshore renewables revolution. The programmes promise to also deliver billions more in rental revenues once they become operational, to be invested for the benefit of the people of Scotland, creating thousands of jobs in the process.
Developers have also committed to invest an average projection of £1.5 bn in Scotland per project on the 20 ScotWind projects.
Our strategic investment of up to £500m over the next five years to anchor the offshore wind supply chain in Scotland will support market certainty, create a highly productive, competitive economy, provide thousands of new jobs, embed innovation and boost skills.