Chamber and committees

The responsibility for development and delivery of flood protection schemes rests with individual local authorities, who are best placed to respond to local resilience needs.

Proposals to improve flood resilience in potentially vulnerable areas, including flood protection schemes, are set out in Flood Risk Management Plans published on SEPA’s website, and Local Flood Risk Management Plans, published by local authorities.

These plans are renewed every 6 years. The current plans are valid until 2028.

There are no statutory deadlines or timescales for Scottish Ministers to consider reports from the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division.

The Offshore Energy Skills Passport is an initiative led and driven by industry.

The most recent statement from the key industry delivery bodies, Renewable UK and Offshore Energies UK, indicates that an initial version of the Passport will be available for workers to access later this year.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting the Passport’s successful implementation. Ministers last met with Renewable UK and Offshore Energies UK to receive updates on progress on 10 September 2024.

Ministers last discussed the project with the relevant trade union representatives on 17 September 2024.

Communities are at the heart of our renewable energy ambitions, and we are committed to working with partners to ensure the delivery of renewable energy comes with benefits for people in Scotland and contributes to community wealth building (CWB).

Where communities have an ownership stake in energy production, we are seeing surpluses being used to support local employment and other initiatives. For example, in North Tolsta, on Lewis, one of five Scottish Government Community Wealth Building pilot areas, revenue from a community owned wind turbine supports local jobs, provides grants for home energy improvements and offers financial support for young people attending further and higher education.

The Community Energy Generation Growth Fund, through our Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES), recently awarded £1.5 million in grants to 19 community groups across Scotland to develop their own renewable energy projects. These communities are able to earn money from their projects, for example by selling excess energy generation.

As confirmed in the Programme for Government, we will shortly publish the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan to support Scotland’s just transition to a green economy.

Scottish Government capital investment is primarily focussed on the demand sectors of heat, transport and industry.

In support of the delivery of our energy ambitions this financial year (2024-2025) we have allocated:

• over £145 million for active travel, in addition to the over £2 billion we invest in public transport annually.
• £266 million budget for Heat in Buildings.
• £12.2 million for hydrogen projects.
• £9 million to Scotland’s manufacturing industries through the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund.
• £2 million to support the Acorn Carbon transport and storage project.
• Our Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray continues to support a range of pioneering projects with an allocation of £16.4 million

Funding for future years will be subject to annual budget allocations.

The Energy Saving Trust (EST), on behalf of the Scottish Government, publishes the annual Community and Locally Owned Energy in Scotland (COLO) Report.

This reports against six specific ownership categories (Farm & Estate, Local Authority, Local Business, Community, Housing Association, and Public Sector and Charity) with ownership then broken down by technology and distribution by local authority area. This last category groups public sector and charity organisations together as they are commonly considered not for profit organisations.

The latest report states that, as of December 2023, there are 92 MW of operational capacity across 12,110 installations in the Public Sector and Charity category, across a range of technologies.

Scotland has a current reported potential pipeline of over 40 GW of offshore wind projects. ScotWind reflects very significant market ambition for offshore wind in Scottish waters – around 28 GW across 20 projects.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with the UK Government to discuss the development and implementation of initiatives to support the offshore wind supply chain in Scotland and across the UK.

For example, we have worked closely with the UK Government on its plans to introduce a Sustainable Industry Reward (SIR) into the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme. The SIR will help drive investment in the supply chain here in Scotland and across the UK, and into greener supply chains globally.

The supply chain development statement process has been carefully designed and is managed by Crown Estate Scotland to ensure focus is maintained on supply chain capacity and capability to develop and deliver offshore wind projects in Scotland.

Since the ScotWind announcements, Crown Estate Scotland have conducted webinars and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, including trade unions, to provide information and updates on the supply chain development statement SCDS process.

The Scottish Government also continues to actively engage with the Just Transition Partnership, and individual trade unions, on a range of issues, including in relation to support for the Scottish supply chain and securing a Just Transition for our offshore energy workers.

The Scottish Government is committed to maximising the economic opportunity for the Scottish supply chain from our offshore wind potential, and ensuring a just transition that takes our existing skilled workforce with us.

The Scottish Government is working closely with Forth Green Freeport and Forth Ports as a consortium member, to ensure that it delivers maximum positive impact as soon as possible, including at the tax site in Leith where a renewable energy hub is being developed and a potential customs site at Edinburgh Airport. This includes regular engagement at official level to support the development of their recently submitted full business case.

Scottish Ministers have had a number of engagements with Forth Ports in the last few months about the company’s challenges and opportunities as they look to support a just transition to a decarbonised economy. This includes a visit of Cabinet Secretary for Transport Fiona Hyslop to Port of Grangemouth on 6 March 2024, a meeting between Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes with Forth Ports CEO Stuart Wallace on 12 July and a visit to the Leith tax site of Forth Green Freeport of Minister for Employment and Investment Tom Arthur together with UK Government Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds on 22 August 2024.

Green Freeports will play a crucial role in the Scottish Government’s commitment to a just transition to net zero, by creating clusters of high-tech manufacturing excellence in low carbon sectors and high-quality, well-paid new jobs within these sectors.

Scottish Government do not (a) incentivise (c)inhibit or (d) discriminate against community owned energy providers. Scottish Government conduct all procurement in accordance with the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 and the Public Procurement Regulations. Under Section 8 – General Duties of the Act, procurement authorities must:

“in carrying out a regulated procurement—

(a) treat relevant economic operators equally and without discrimination,

(b) act in a transparent and proportionate manner.”

To actively incentivise or discriminate any provider or group of providers would be a clear breach of the requirements of the Act.

The framework terms and conditions do (b) facilitate self generating sources to approach the Supplier, and there is a mechanism in the Terms and Conditions for local authorities to approach EDF to sell electricity which they have generated. The Framework also has included the option of Power Purchase Agreements.

The terms and conditions state that for the Supply of Electricity from a self-generating source the Supplier shall enter into a Power Purchase Agreement with such Scottish Public Sector Body on normal commercial terms. Such purchase shall stand entirely separate to the arrangements under the Framework and the Supplier shall not be under any obligation to sleeve the electrical output of such Public Body’s facility into the supply of electricity under the framework.

The Supply of Electricity agreement has also included the options of 6 different Power Purchase Agreement variations as part of the Statement of Requirements and the Terms and Conditions, these include.

Option 1 - A PPA entered into between the Scottish Government (Authority) and a third party generator. The generator is not a Client under the Framework. (Direct PPA)

Option 2 - A PPA entered into between the Contractor and a third party generator. The generator is not a Client under the Framework. (Indirect PPA)

Option 3 - A PPA entered into between the Scottish Government (Authority) and a generator. The generator is a Client under the Framework ( for example a Local Authority). Under this category of PPA the power sleeved into the Framework volume for use by the entire portfolio

Option 4 - A PPA entered into between the Contractor and a generator. The generator is a Client under the Framework. Under this category of PPA the power sleeved into the Framework volume would be for use by the entire portfolio.

Option 5 – : Export PPA where Client under the framework sells excess volume to the Contractor

Option 6 (as advice only) - Private Wire. This category is distinct from any of the above as it involves a direct physical connection between the generator and the buyer.

Overall the National Framework for the Supply of Electricity includes a statement of requirements and Ts and Cs which are agreed by the User Intelligence Group made up of public sector representatives (including representatives from local authorities). They have set out that the framework supplier needs to ensure it has the capacity to secure forward purchases on behalf of all framework customers. The Supplier also needs to account manage each individual customer organisation including billing, invoicing, meter reading queries, complaints, energy efficiency queries, and social value programmes within the framework. As well as managing the consumption for over 30,000 meters for electricity that are part of the portfolio. Therefore the supplier needs to have capacity to trade large volumes and achieve Value For Money for the whole Scottish public sector.

All of these aspects have been set out as well as the options of Power Purchase Agreements and the mechanism for local authorities to approach the Supplier to sell the power which has been self-generated.