Chamber and committees

Scotland has a potential 4.3GW of onshore wind installed capacity in planning which will be impacted by the changes to the Renewables Obligation scheme which will be applicable in Scotland not in just England and Wales. We cannot be certain about the impacts which may be felt in other sectors such as manufacturers, consultancies and community groups, but in order to understand this better the minister held a summit for the industry on 9 July 2015 to listen to concerns and take a collective view.

We are in regular discussions with the Department of Energy Climate Change and the minister has regularly spoken with the Secretary of State about this issue. We will bring the outcomes of the summit and discussions with stakeholders such as Scottish Renewables to our ongoing discussions with the UK Government.

The Scottish Government believes the UK Government decision if implemented as they have stated will have very serious consequences for the on-shore renewables sector, but also on other sectors who fear further action to limit support. We are arguing that this policy should be rethought if we are to avoid significant job losses and collateral damage to civil engineering, communities and education as well as negative impact on ability to achieve carbon emission reduction targets in UK and Scotland forward.

The document Solar Energy - A Viable Contributor to Renewables in Scotland, was published by the Scottish Institute for Solar Energy Research and others in 2014 and estimated that an installed capacity of around 7 GW of domestic and non-domestic rooftop solar photovoltaics (PV) is technically feasible in Scotland although the amount of solar PV that can commercially be installed will be significantly lower than this.

Solar energy opportunities on the government estate have been considered as part of The Scottish Government’s 2014 Carbon Management Plan. The plan does, however, focus on a ‘fabric first’ energy efficiency led measures which tend to have the best economic case and any measures installed will be closely tied to the Scottish Futures Trust estates strategy for the Scottish Government which is in development.

In addition Edinburgh Community Solar Co-operative has recently been approved for a £133k loan by the Scottish Government funded CARES panel to develop solar PV on Edinburgh Council buildings and we are aware that other public sector bodies are investigating the potential for solar on their properties.

We are engaging with the Solar Trade Association, Scottish Renewables and the Scottish Institute for Solar Energy Research as well as other stakeholders to ensure that we are doing what we can to provide an environment where the potential of solar in Scotland can be achieved.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-26126 on 13 July 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Electricity Generation Policy Statement - 2013(EGPS) sets out the Scottish Government’s policy to support a shift from fossil fuel generation to a portfolio comprising renewable and cleaner thermal generation. This remains our policy. The analysis that was undertaken to inform the EGPS looked at a requirement for thermal generation to continue to play an important role, through a minimum of 2.5GW of thermal generation progressively fitted with carbon capture and storage (CCS).

We are pleased that the Peterhead CCS project is making great progress towards the commercialisation of this important technology. Scotland has a huge amount to gain from the success of the CCS sector, and can make a significant contribution towards global climate action in the progress.

However, UK Government policy continues to impact negatively on the existing thermal generating capability in Scotland, and in particular on the potential for new power stations being built. The current transmission charging regime for Great Britain was introduced by the UK Government through the implementation of the British Electricity Trading and Transmission Arrangements in 2005. Since then, successive UK Governments have failed to address the significant disincentive to any new thermal generation in Scotland which these charges present. The following table published by National Grid illustrates how the charges for generators in Scotland are significantly higher than those in England and Wales.

2015-16 Wider Generation Tariffs

Zone	Zone Name	£/kilowatt
1	North Scotland	25.546023
2	East Aberdeenshire	21.084720
3	Western Highlands	23.455451
4	Skye and Lochalsh	28.869531
5	Easter Grampian and Tayside	22.214915
6	Central Grampian	21.644276
7	Argyll	22.890024
8	The Trossachs	18.031264
9	Stirlingshire and Fife	17.153323
10	South West Scotland	15.825072
11	Lothian and Borders	13.372687
12	Solway and Cheviot	11.621553
13	North East England	8.600036
14	North Lancs and The Lakes	7.730613
15	South Lancs, Yorks and Humber	6.258567
16	North Midlands and North Wales	4.890027
17	South Lincs and North Norfolk	2.974367
18	Mid Wales and The Midlands	2.089218
19	Anglesey and Snowdon	7.684625
20	Pembrokeshire	5.933831
21	South Wales	3.308849
22	Cotswold	0.207391
23	Central London	-5.212171
24	Essex and Kent	-0.745812
25	Oxfordshire, Surrey and Sussex	-2.553608
26	Somerset and Wessex	-3.944445
27	West Devon and Cornwall	-5.804749

We will continue to do everything that we can to address the barriers to our stated policy of supporting a balanced energy mix.

The Electricity Generation Policy Statement (EGPS) was published most recently in 2013. It is a statement of high-level Scottish Government electricity policy, and it remains an accurate reflection of our policy at present. However, as I stated to the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee on 17 June 2015 as part of its inquiry into security of supply, there have been significant developments in the policy and regulatory provisions affecting the electricity sector since the EGPS was last published, and it will therefore be necessary to update it in due course.

This meeting was not organised by the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-25895 on 26 June 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The answers to the member’s previous questions S4W-25246, S4W-25247, S4W-25248, S4W-25588, S4W-25589 and S4W-25591 include details of the many steps the Scottish Government has taken to pursue the closely related issues of Longannet’s future and the security of our electricity supply.

The Scottish Government has been extremely active on these matters. Our approach has been to engage with Scottish Power Generation, the Scottish transmission owners, National Grid (the National Electricity Transmission System Operator), Ofgem and independent experts to understand fully the issues and implications.

It is clear from these discussions that serious, unanswered questions remain about the impacts of the potential premature closure of Longannet, which Scottish Power has linked to the punitive transmission charging regime that acts as a disincentive to new thermal generation in Scotland. Ministers have raised these concerns at the highest levels in the UK Government.

The UK Government does not appear to share our concerns despite the obvious need to address the situation of narrowing capacity margins, a position which was confirmed by the Prime Minister’s written reply to the First Minister. However, the Scottish Government will continue to press the UK Government on this matter, and to lead discussions with Scottish Power, workforce representatives, Fife Council and local groups to avert or mitigate the impact of premature closure of Longannet.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-25895 on 26 June 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

On 29 May 2015 I visited Aberdeen to meet with GPs, elected representatives and NHS Grampian to hear directly from those involved about the difficulties facing general practice in Aberdeen/Grampian and discuss how best to support GPs to find new ways of working that address workload and staffing difficulties.