Chamber and committees

Security of electricity supply is reserved and a responsibility of the UK Government. It is delivered by the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) under regulation from Ofgem.

National Grid ESO and the two electricity network operators in Scotland monitor, record and address any electricity outages at the transmission and distribution level. As such, the Scottish Government does not separately monitor weather-related power outages.

However, during disruptive events affecting electricity supplies, Scottish Government officials work closely with the UK Government and network operators as necessary, to understand impacts, restoration plans and the welfare of affected customers. If required, during severe weather events and associated power outages, the Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGoRR) may convene SGoR meetings with the attendance of network operators.

It is critical that Scotland’s energy system is resilient and that security of supply is maintained. We acknowledge that the location of infrastructure is an important factor in determining its contribution to the future security and resilience of our energy supply.

Our fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) signals the key priorities for ‘where’ and ‘what’ development should take place at a national level. NPF4 places climate and nature at the centre of our planning system and makes clear that development proposals should be sited and designed to adapt to current and future risks from climate change.

The Scottish Government is broadly supportive of the proposal by the Electricity Networks Commissioner, Nick Winser, for a Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP). We are continuing to engage with the UK Government to ensure that as the SSEP is developed it fully takes into account Scotland's energy ambitions and respects devolved policy.

The Scottish National Investment Bank (the Bank) reports on the Scottish local authority areas that have benefitted from its investments through its annual Impact Report. The Impact Report 2023, setting out the impacts of the Bank’s investment to the close of 2022, showed that 20 of Scotland’s local authority areas had benefitted from the Bank’s investments. An update will be published in the Bank’s Impact Report 2024.

Furthermore, the Bank provides a representative map of its investment portfolio on the Bank’s portfolio webpage. However, it is important to note that although a Bank’s investee may be headquartered in a single location, the impact the investment is having can be further widespread.

Electricity and heat capacity data broken down by local authority area are publicly available on the Scottish Energy Statistics Hub. Data tables can be found at the bottom of the following pages. Local authority data can be accessed by clicking the ‘Local authority’ tab above each data table.

Electricity: https://scotland.shinyapps.io/Energy/?Section=RenLowCarbon&Subsection=RenElec&Chart=RenElecCapacity

Heat: https://scotland.shinyapps.io/Energy/?Section=RenLowCarbon&Subsection=RenHeat&Chart=RenHeatTech

During our regular engagement with the heat networks sector, the costs of planning applications has not been cited as a major barrier to new developments. The Scottish Government has therefore not undertaken any analysis into the effect that these costs have on the profit margin for district heating projects.

The fee for submitting a planning application is to be calculated in accordance with the provisions of The Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications) (Scotland) Regulations 2022 and it is for the relevant planning authority to calculate the appropriate fee based on the nature and scale of any individual development.

Meanwhile, all local authorities are developing Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES) that will identify potential district heating opportunities. Local authorities can receive support in developing potential projects from Heat Network Support Unit which can help to commercialise such opportunities.

Our non domestic rates reliefs can also support the viability of district heating projects, and we continue to work to implement the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act which will provide new powers to some operators and developers that are designed to make it quicker and less costly to construct and maintain these systems.

The Scottish Government recognises that we must do more to attract the investment required if we are to fulfil the potential that the heat network sector has in Scotland and create a sustainable market. Reducing demand risk is one of the ways of achieving this.

We are working to develop potential new legislation on public sector organisations regarding connection to heat networks. We aim to consult on this during 2024-25, having first engaged with public sector partners.

Additionally, on 28 November we published a consultation on a Heat in Buildings Bill in which we seek views on the proposal to: Provide local authorities and the Scottish Ministers with powers to require other buildings within a Heat Network Zone to end their use of polluting heating systems (by a certain date and with a minimum notice period).

The Hydrogen Action Plan, published in December 2022, set out a clear commitment to support renewable hydrogen production.

In May 2023, a funding award totalling over £7 million to thirty-one projects via the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme was announced, which supports innovation in the production, storage, and integration of renewable hydrogen. Thirty of these projects are now underway.

The Energy Transition Fund and the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund were launched in June and September 2020 respectively.

The following NHS Scotland Health Boards are preparing adaptation plans:

• Forth Valley
• Greater Glasgow & Clyde
• Lothian
• Orkney
• Golden Jubilee University National Hospital
• The State Hospital Board for Scotland

All other Health Boards have prepared an adaptation plan.

This is a matter for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The information requested is not held centrally.

Impact assessments for the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in Scotland have been updated to reflect the most recent set of regulations passed by the Scottish Parliament. The impact assessments will be updated again once Defra have confirmed the final design of their scheme.