Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive introduced the Renewables Obligation Scotland (ROS) in April 2002.Under the ROS, all licensed electricity suppliers are obliged to sourceincreasing amounts of their electricity from qualifying renewable sources.

In order to comply withtheir obligation, suppliers can buy Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs)from renewable generators and provide these to the industry regulator, Ofgem,as proof that they have met their obligation. Alternatively, suppliers maychoose to pay to Ofgem thirty pounds for each megawatt hour of electricity forwhich they do not produce a ROC. As a result, renewable generators such asOcean Power Delivery can gain additional income by selling ROCs in addition tothe electrical output which their plants generate.

The additional costs imposedupon electricity suppliers under the ROS, estimated to reach around 4-5% by2010, are met by all electricity consumers.

The Marine Energy TestCentre will allow Scotland’s fledgling marine industry to test, accredit, andshowcase its products for the burgeoning world market. Ocean Power DeliveryLtd’s Pelamis device will be the first device to be installed in the centrelater this year. Issues relating to the commercial deployment of the devicethereafter are a matter for the company.

The regulation of internationaltrade is a reserved matter. However, Scottish Executive officials maintain regularcontact with officials in the Department of Trade and Industry and other Governmentdepartments regarding trade issues, including those relating to the WTO, and howthese may impact on the Executive’s responsibilities. The Cancun conferenceagreed a new deadline of 15 December 2003 to try and resolve the issues that could not be resolvedat Cancun. Scottish Executive officials will continue to liase with UK Governmentdepartments on these and the other on-going negotiations under the Doha DevelopmentAgenda.

Our discussions with the Ministryof Defence concentrate on the wider issues relating to renewable energy developmentand its interests in safeguarding, particularly in relation to low flying and radar.

As for individual projects, itis for the developer to resolve, where possible, these matters with the Ministryof Defence. Our role, therefore, is to facilitate discussion and to seek clarificationof the issues so that discussions between the developer and the Ministry of Defencecan be useful.

Benefits of co-operation areexpected to include exchanges of best practice, sharing of information and researchfindings, exchanges of officials and reciprocal attendance and participation atconferences and seminars. There may also be cases where it is appropriate to workjointly on specific projects. Any future collaboration between the Scottish Executive and the Nordic Council of Ministers will complement existing co-operationin the framework of the Nordic Scottish Action Plan, the Scottish/Finnish Health Agreement and the North Atlantic Conference.

It is for harbour authoritiesto monitor their own structures and consider what action they require to take toensure that required facilities remain usable. Piers and Harbours Grants are availablefor the development of piers and harbours that support lifeline ferry services inthe Highlands and Islands and it would be open to relevant harbour authorities toapply for grants to tackle problems caused by accelerated low-water corrosion. Similargrants are available to fisheries harbours for a range of emergency purposes.

The Suckler Cow Premium Scheme2003 literature and claim form were available to download from the Scottish Executivewebsite on 1 July 2003, the day the scheme opened. This was in advance of the packswhich issued to claimants under the 2002 scheme on 4 July 2003. The interactive versionof the claim form was not, however, available on SEERAD Online until 14 August 2003. Thiswas because priority was given to the issue of balance payments under the Beef SpecialPremium, Suckler Cow Premium, Slaughter Premium and Extensification Payment Schemes.

The first meeting of the Highlands andIslands Transmission Issues Group was held on 26 August. The group discussed theaction required in order to develop the case for new power connections from theHighlands and Islands to the principal centres of population in the most effectiveand rational way. The group agreed that the first stage of this process would beto establish the size of the potential renewable energy resource in each of theIsland areas and in the Highland Council area.

The group is scheduled to meetagain in November to review progress.

Applications for consent undersection 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 are subject to consultation with interestedparties. In view of its wide-ranging safeguarding interests, the Ministry of Defenceis one of these bodies and is accordingly invited to comment on all applicationsreceived. Consultees, such as the Ministry of Defence do not approve applications,but have the opportunity to comment on them in light of their interests. These commentsare a material consideration in the determination of the application. A list of all applications fors36 consent made since September 2001 is available on the energy web page (www.scotland.gov.uk/enterprise/energy). We do not holda central record of applications for wind farm developments under the local planningsystem, but these too are subject to consultation with the Ministry of Defence.

We do not keep records on thescale of this problem, nor are we aware of any comprehensive survey work havingbeen done, either at piers and harbours supporting lifeline ferries or at the manysmall fisheries and general piers and harbours throughout Scotland.