Chamber and committees

As set out in the Transport Scotland Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan, it is planned to electrify the route to Dundee and Aberdeen by 2035.

The decarbonisation of the lines to Dundee and Aberdeen form later phases of the rolling programme, they are at an early stage of development with a detailed implementation programme and cost estimate still to be developed.

The Scottish Government will engage with all bidders for Green Freeport status, to examine relevant opportunities and build on the strategies they have set out.

As Co-Chair of the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC), I am leading on work to implement the five key recommendations in the Strategic Infrastructure Assessment (SIA) published in 2021, starting with the creation of a Scottish Offshore Wind Port Cluster.

On 11 May, we published the Offshore Wind Collaborative Framework Charter. 24 developers signed up to the Charter, which includes all active developers in Scotland and encompasses all 17 ScotWind projects.

The Charter builds on the 2021 SIA recommendations adopted by the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC), and is a clear way to support and enable developers’ collective supply chain commitments. The Charter will help forge effective partnerships to deliver on the potential that offshore wind presents in the coming years particularly those that present via our ports and harbours.

Although there is no legislative requirement to publish noise reports for major roads projects Transport Scotland has previously published these where appropriate to be helpful, transparent and open.

Following introduction of the Data Protection Act 2018, Transport Scotland has considered how the requirements of the Act apply to the information contained within these noise reports and whether their publication would still be possible.

It has concluded that to ensure it does not breach the Act, all personal data such as addresses would require to be removed prior to publication, making the remaining published information incapable of interpretation and informing the public and communities of anything meaningful.

However, in line with Data Protection Act 2018, property owners can request access to their own personal data contained within the noise survey reports by contacting Transport Scotland.

Now that the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the steering group have been developed, it is anticipated that the group will convene shortly. The agenda for the first meeting will include endorsement of those ToR by the stakeholders.

The appropriate rolling stock for ScotRail’s services is kept under consideration at all times and changes and investment decisions will be announced from time to time in the normal manner.

One of the key pillars of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation is to strengthen Scotland’s position in new markets and industries to generate well-paid jobs and support a just transition to net zero. The Strategy sets out a range of actions to deliver on this vision. We are now developing sectoral and regional Just Transition Plans, which will identify relevant green industrial opportunities. Our first Just Transition Plan will be the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, which is intended for publication in draft form in autumn 2022.

Work is also underway to strengthen our supply chains in the renewables energy sector. We're aware, for example, that Scotland’s developing hydrogen economy will require a strong domestic supply chain.

That's why the Scottish Government has announced a Hydrogen Supply Chain Event at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on 22 September to help build on and explore the opportunities that exist within this emerging sector.

For Offshore Wind, applicants to the ScotWind leasing round were required to submit a Supply Chain Development Statement (SCDS) that sets out the level and location of supply chain impact throughout the lifetime of projects. These commitments amount to billions of pounds of investment to the Scottish supply chain. Initial projections show an average spend of £1.5bn in Scotland per project.

In line with the Programme for Government, we are helping manufacturing businesses to make the transition to net zero and realise the opportunities of a low carbon economy

The recently launched Low Carbon Manufacturing Challenge Fund will provide research and development funding for projects that result in increased product circularity, reduced waste during the manufacturing process and reduced carbon. Innovative proposals will be supported with £3 million funding this year and a total of £26 million over five years.

We are also supporting supply chains through our supply chain development programme which has an initial focus on net zero and is providing significant public sector procurement to build resilient supply chains.

In 2019 we published “Scotland: a trading nation”; a plan to grow Scotland’s exports which highlighted energy as a key sector. This year will also deliver a Renewable Energy Sector export plan showing our long term growth plan for exports.

Scottish Development International is the primary delivery arm for providing in-depth export support to Scottish businesses, both in Scotland and overseas. This is undertaken through a combination of individual company work, industry exhibitions and conferences.

Ministers are supporting Scotland’s renewable energy suppliers by engaging in high level events focused on export. June 2022 will see the next GlobalScot Energy Showcase; an opportunity for Scottish businesses to connect with a community of internationally-based business ambassadors with in market knowledge to support export.

In 2020, the Scottish Government set up the Scottish Energy Task Force to focus on near-term, collaborative actions, which can stimulate investment in Scotland’s energy sector to support delivery of net-zero.

The Energy Task Force consists of 12 organisations, including renewable energy companies, who have helped to develop the Joint Business Plan for Unlocking Investment in Scotland’s Energy Sector which was published in May this year.

The Plan outlines actions which can be taken to make near-term progress on working towards net-zero. The Task Force will continue to work collaboratively to deliver these actions which support net-zero.

The Energy Strategy & Just Transition Plan (ESJTP) will be developed not only to ensure the delivery of a viable net-zero energy system but also to provide an action plan that enables the transition to that system in a fair and just way for all of Scotland and maximises the economic opportunity that Scotland’s resource provides.

To ensure the impacts of the ESJTP reflect the challenges and opportunities facing the supply chain, a co-design process is being carried out to ensure the supply chain are able to engage, contribute and help shape the ESJTP.