Chamber and committees

The Renewables Routemap estimates that we will need some 16 GigaWatts (GW) of capacity from across a wide range of renewable sources, but we have not published nor have we forecast targets for individual technologies.

As things stand, however, lease awards and agreements have been established which amount to over 11.5 GW of wave, tidal stream and offshore wind capacity in waters around Scotland. Our focus now is on working with the sector to address the technological, financial and infrastructural hurdles facing those projects – including the transition to a new support mechanism proposed as part of the UK Electricity Market Reforms – and to support the development of as much capacity as possible by 2020.

The Clyde Inshore Fisheries Group is nearing completion of its draft fisheries management plan and will soon submit it to Ministers for approval. The Scottish Government will consider the priorities and management measures proposed in the plan with a view to implementing them as appropriate in due course.

We will shortly be undertaking stakeholder engagement on the outputs from the Clyde Project, which was initiated last autumn in the first instance to review the evidence on the state of the Clyde.

We intend to publish a National Planning Framework Monitoring Report shortly. An announcement on the revision of the National Planning Framework will be made at that time.

The costs of transmission losses are not allocated to the consumer. They are dealt with through the Balancing Mechanism used by the National Grid as a means of balancing power flows on to and off of the electricity Transmission System in Great Britain. The costs of transmission losses are met by electricity generators and distribution companies drawing the electricity off the transmission network.

Elexon is the body that administers the Balancing Mechanism. More information can be found on its website:

http://www.elexon.co.uk/ELEXON%20Documents/Transmission_Losses.pdf

The location of marine renewables projects around Scotland will be a matter for developers, subject to their obtaining both a site lease and the necessary marine license from the Scottish Government. The estimated additional cost incurred by this forecast capacity is based on the costs being spread across the UK – deliberately and advisedly so, since this is how the Renewables Obligation operates and will continue to do so.

The Head Street scheme has completed the statutory process; the Den realignment scheme is currently in preparation and construction of both schemes is dependent on the availability of funding and the competing priorities of other schemes on the network.

At Barrmill Road the A737 Road Safety Route Action Plan is on-going. It will propose measures aimed at reducing the number of injury accidents. Some of the early identified outcomes from the bend assessment section of this Road Safety Route Action Plan will be implemented during December 2011.

The projects that have secured funding through the Wave and Tidal Energy: Research, Development and Demonstration Support (WATERS) programme have to date drawn down £795,000.

The data collected as part of the project assessment process highlighted that the successful bids would support 261 jobs relating to research, development and commercialisation activities.

The European Commission is currently reviewing responses to its consultation on the review of the Community guidelines on financing of airports and start-up aid to airlines departing from regional airports. The Scottish Government’s response can be found at:

http://ec.europa.eu/competition/consultations/2011_aviation_guidelines/index_en.html.

The Scottish Government believes that the TAC (Total Allowable Catch) for all fish stocks should be set in line with scientific advice. Despite both ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Seas) and STECF (Scientific Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries) recommending a 410% increase in TAC for West of Scotland haddock, the European Commission is proposing only a 25% increase. Increasing the TAC by 410% would maintain the level of fishing mortality within the MSY (maximum sustainable yield) framework, which the Commission advocates. The SSB (Spawning Stock Biomass - weight of mature fish in the stock) is now above precautionary limits and is increasing steadily. The stock is showing strong signs of recovery and the Scottish Government believes that limiting the TAC to a 25% increase would result in a significant increase in discards, therefore we would prefer to be closer to 410% as justified by scientific advice. While we accept that a large increase in haddock TAC could risk increasing the mortality of West of Scotland cod, we are keen to work with the European Commission to develop appropriate selectivity measures to try and avoid this.

As part of its Retail Market Review, Ofgem has made a number of proposals to make the market work better for consumers, including simplification of tariffs and enhancing liquidity in the wholesale market by requiring the big six energy companies to auction up to 20 per cent of their power generation. These proposals have the potential to enhance consumer choice and encourage competition in the market.

Ofgem has estimated that referral to the Competition Commission could take up to three years, delaying much needed investment in new generating capacity. We would urge Ofgem to bring forward their proposals as soon as possible, and better still for the energy companies to take rapid voluntary action.