Chamber and committees

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Scotland's electricity infrastructure: inhibitor or enabler of our energy ambitions?

Background

The aim of this inquiry was to scrutinise what electricity infrastructure will be needed to realise the ambitions set out in the Scottish Government's Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, and what will be needed to deliver that infrastructure. The Draft Strategy aims to deliver the Scottish Government's vision for a net zero energy system. This was a short "snapshot" inquiry leading to a report to the Scottish Government as it finalised the Strategy. It also helped to inform future Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee scrutiny of specific aspects of energy and climate policy and practice.

Find out about the Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan - Scottish Government

Areas of interest to the Committee in this inquiry included:

the suitability of the different electricity technologies that the Scottish Government wants to play a role in future energy supply (onshore/offshore wind, marine, solar, hydro)
the relationship between technologies (e.g. intermittent renewables, pumped hydro, battery technologies, hydrogen etc.)
these technologies’ compatibility with the current and planned electricity network
the regulatory regime within which they operate
whether the current planning system is geared to support and enable development of the infrastructure we will need within the right timeframes to reach net zero

This inquiry related to electricity infrastructure in a broad sense, incorporating supply, transmission, distribution and storage. Substantial investment and changes in all these asset types will be needed for Scotland to meet its ambition to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045.

Planning for future electricity infrastructure in Scotland requires simultaneous consideration of the forms of supply, the relationships between supply and storage assets and the readiness of the electricity transmission and distribution networks for change. While the Scottish Government has significant control over the supply sources sited in Scotland, largely through devolved planning powers, the governance of electricity networks is a reserved matter.

Timetable

21 March 2023

The Committee took oral evidence from a small number of key energy industry stakeholders.

28 March 2023

The Committee heard from representatives of the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem).

18 April 2023

The targeted Call for Views closed.

27 April 2023

The Committee heard from Andrew Bowie MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Nuclear and Networks) and Jeremy Allen, Director of the Energy Portfolio Office, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, UK Government.

9 May 2023

The Committee took closing evidence from the Scottish Government.

Your views

To support the inquiry, the Committee issued a Call for Views with the following questions. As the inquiry is short, this was a targeted call sent to key stakeholders but anyone was welcome to respond within the timeframe of 18 April 2023.

Electricity network readiness

1. Do the current business plans from Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN) and ScottishPower Energy Networks (in relation both to transmission and distribution) allow for sufficient investment in networks to realise the Energy Strategy's ambitions?

2. To what extent are SPEN and SSEN able to alter investment plans in response to a fast-moving policy environment?

System resilience

3. What role will dispatchable* electricity sources - pumped hydro, battery technologies, thermal generation (hydrogen power, gas with CCS) - play in ensuring security of supply and system resilience? Should any other technology play a role in supporting Scotland’s electricity system?

4. What are the key barriers to deploying these technologies and how should they be addressed?

5. Do proposed UK Government reforms to the electricity capacity market align with the Draft Energy Strategy?

*"dispatchable": energy generation that can be available on demand.

Wind energy

6. What are the key barriers to achieving the Scottish Government's ambition for onshore and offshore wind contained in the Draft Strategy; could the readiness of the electricity network to accommodate new projects affect the business case for the proposals?

7. Given the generation potential, and market ambition, is there a risk of oversupply if options for use of surplus electricity (e.g. green hydrogen production) do not become reality?

Hydrogen and the electricity system

8. How much of the Scottish Government ambitions for 5 GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2030, and 25 GW by 2045 should come from green hydrogen?

9. What are the key infrastructure barriers to building a hydrogen economy in Scotland and how should they be addressed?

Ofgem

10. Ofgem are "working with government, industry and consumer groups to deliver a net-zero economy". What changes have recently been made to support the delivery of net-zero? What more could be done to support a regulatory regime that delivers decarbonised energy supplies affordably?

Find out more about Ofgem

11. What are the most important issues for the UK Government's Review of Electricity Market Arrangements to address? What are the benefits of the current system, and the potential pitfalls of moving away from it? What are the implications for the Draft Energy Strategy of the Review?

Find out more about the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements - UK Government

Community energy

12. Are community and locally owned projects inhibited by the current electricity network?

13. What are the key infrastructure barriers to Scottish Government community energy ambitions and how should they be addressed? Is it enough to "encourage" shared ownership models, or should a more formal mechanism be implemented?

Engagement event

The Committee held an engagement event with a number of Scottish-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the energy sector to hear their views on the Scottish Government's Draft Energy Strategy, among other issues related to Scotland's electricity infrastructure.

Read the summary note - SMEs online engagement event 18 April 2023 (123KB, pdf) posted 07 September 2023