Chamber and committees

As the member knows, a significant amount of work is being done on skills and the supply chain not only for new builds but for retrofitting, which is a particular challenge in many island communities. We are working closely with the sector to address those challenges. I am sure that there will be much more on which to update the member as we develop the supply chain delivery plan later this year.

We are of course aware of the global issues that are affecting construction and impacting affordable housing delivery. We are working closely with the construction industry and housing partners to mitigate that where possible, and we operate a flexible grant system that can take account of increased costs.

Despite those challenges and the challenges that have been caused by the global pandemic in recent years, including the necessary lockdowns, the Scottish Government has, as I mentioned earlier, delivered 111,750 affordable homes since 2007, with 78,000 of those for social rent. We have passed the target of delivering 50,000 affordable homes, and we are starting on the delivery of an ambitious plan for a further 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.

There is a great deal of work with the sector to examine the potential for modern methods of construction. We already deliver homes using off-site construction methods—predominantly timber-frame methods—and will continue to support proven approaches. Given the real potential benefits to housing delivery, tenants and the environment, we are considering how we can increase uptake of and investment in off-site construction to support the delivery of more efficient high-quality and net zero affordable homes in the future.

In February, we launched our £300 million heat network fund, which helps local authorities and private companies to develop heat networks, including making use of existing waste heat, where possible. We currently support heat network projects in Aberdeen and Midlothian that will use waste heat from energy-from-waste plants. However, it is important that waste heat producers decarbonise their operations to ensure that we meet our net zero target. We recently published the report of the independent review of incineration, which recommends that the Scottish Government set an indicative cap for the amount of residual waste treatment that is needed. We will set out our response to that report in June.

Mr Fairlie is right to point to the much more extensive use of heat networks in some other European countries. Currently, upwards of 1.18 terawatt hours of heat is supplied by heat networks in Scotland. We want significant growth so that, by the end of this decade, 6 terawatt hours of heat is supplied by networks.

We recently published the first national assessment of potential heat network zones, to identify areas in which heat network deployment could be most effective. Via Scotland’s heat network fund, we are providing £300 million to develop heat networks, which could, if well located, utilise waste heat. In some places, existing waste-to-energy plants might be in a position to supply heat to heat networks and electricity to the grid. However, we need to be clear that the growth of heat networks is not contingent on increasing the availability of heat from that particular source.

The latest data show that eviction action by landlords in both the private and social rented sectors reduced significantly and remained at a low level throughout the worst of the pandemic. Private sector evictions have recently started to return to pre-pandemic levels, but the level of social rented sector cases remains substantially lower than pre-pandemic levels.

We are committed to providing increased stability, quality and affordability in renting. That is why, through our new deal for tenants, we are taking forward reform including strengthened tenant rights, rent controls and a new regulator for the private rented sector.

I join members in congratulating Fergus Ewing on bringing the debate to the chamber. The level of interest and enthusiasm for the topic that members across the chamber have shown is extremely positive.

The Scottish Government has been clear that the climate emergency is the biggest threat that our world faces. We must set right the terrible mistakes of previous generations and rapidly transition away from fossil fuels, slash our emissions and prevent the catastrophic impacts of climate change from threatening not only human civilisation but the rest of the living world around us. Scotland is taking leading action to combat climate change, with emissions already down by more than 50 per cent by 2019, but we have much more to do if we are to make up for recent missed targets. The energy transition is a critical part of that.

Last year, Scotland generated enough renewable electricity to power all households in Scotland for almost three years. However, the scale of the challenge means that we have much more to do. The Scottish Government is taking action through our ScotWind announcement, our onshore wind policy statement and our commitment to measures such as active travel and reducing car kilometres. It is also crucial that we do not repeat other mistakes of the past and that we ensure a managed and fair transition to net zero.

The Scottish Government recognises the great importance of energy that is generated from solar in contributing to the decarbonisation of Scotland’s energy supply and helping us to reach net zero by 2045. I have no doubt that solar will play an important and growing role in our decarbonisation goals. It also has the potential to lower costs for individuals and communities.

I will come on to that.

Around 400MW of solar PV is currently operational in Scotland. In 2020, it generated 353GWH of electricity. As of June last year, projects worth a further 352MW were in the pipeline. Solar is growing, and I hear very clearly the appetite of members across the chamber for us to support the sector to grow faster.

Solar is a versatile technology; it interacts well with other renewables. For example, it plays a key role in off-grid communities such as Fair Isle, where £1.5 million of Scottish Government funding helped to fund electricity generation based on three wind turbines, solar and battery storage, providing the island with 24-hour electricity for the first time.

We are keen to understand more about what solar can do. We are undertaking research, which will be published this year, to examine the extent to which building-level storage can help reduce household energy costs. That is not specific to solar alone, but it will look at pairing solar PV with storage.

On funding, the Scottish Government offers a number of support mechanisms to enable the deployment of solar, which is already helping consumers and communities to reduce their carbon emissions and their energy bills. The schemes also recognise the potential for the decarbonisation of not only electricity but heat. For example, the Scottish Government’s social housing net zero heat fund supports social landlords across Scotland to install air-source heat pumps alongside solar panels and battery storage.

I ask the member to let me finish my point.

The combination of these three technologies helps to reduce carbon emissions and bills. It also smoothes out demand, reducing potential strain on the network, and makes homes more resilient to potential power outages. It combines all those benefits in the way that Mark Ruskell described, and it has great potential.

I am aware that the planning minister has met with Solar Energy Scotland, which I am sure would have raised that issue. I am responding as the minister responsible for zero carbon buildings, but the planning minister, the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport and others are actively engaged in this agenda as well.

I will give another couple of examples of where this work is already taking place. Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership is installing measures that are similar to the combined technologies that I described in 100 of its off-gas homes, replacing inefficient and carbon-intensive heating. Those tenants are expected to benefit from a reduction of up to 60 per cent in their energy bills. I hope that people around the country who are facing the cost of living crisis see that as evidence that the transition can be made to work in people’s interests.

The Scottish Government’s community and renewable energy scheme provides funding and specialist advice for communities that are taking such projects forward. The example noted by Colin Smyth of the provision of £100,000 to Edinburgh Community Solar Co-operative saw solar PV—along with battery storage—installed across 24 public buildings owned by the City of Edinburgh Council. All the additional income that is generated from those solar panels is allocated to a local community benefit fund, helping to ensure lasting economic and social benefit for those communities. In all those ways, solar renewables can be used in conjunction with other technologies to maximise efficiency and benefit.

Stirling Council has been installing solar PV on to its social housing since 2012. The Scottish Government has helped that programme with additional funding under both the decarbonisation fund for social housing and funding from the area-based schemes. That has led to more than 4,200 installations to date, with 40,000 solar panels installed in the Stirling area and an average annual saving to households of hundreds of pounds per household. The council is now installing battery storage alongside the PV, giving additional savings.

Members have emphasised some UK measures, such as grid connection costs, and the cabinet secretary met Ofgem just today to make the case once again.

Scotland has huge potential for solar energy and I again thank Fergus Ewing for raising the issue in the chamber. I am very pleased by the strong appetite for faster action. The Scottish Government is working with the solar industry. We welcome the work that it has done and the proposals that it has put to us, which our officials are engaging with. Permitted development rights are under review, and I will make sure that the planning minister is clear about the strong appetite of members across the chamber for action to be taken as quickly as possible. As we committed to in the Bute house agreement, we plan to publish an updated solar vision, detailing our future objectives, as part of the energy strategy refresh, which is due later this year. We will continue to work with the industry and with members across the chamber as that vision is developed. The strength of view that has been expressed has been heard very clearly and will be at the forefront of our minds as we complete that work in the coming months.