Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 20 December 2017
20 Dec 2017 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Energy Strategy
I do not have time today to go through the onshore wind policy statement, but we recognise those issues in the documents. Obviously, our ambition to improve our performance in terms of the delivery of renewable energy must be viewed in the context of our ambition to protect important landscapes as best we can, and we ensure that full account is taken of those issues when we consider planning applications.
The cabinet secretary and I consider section 36 consent for projects over 50MW, and wild land issues are very much part of our considerations. Wild land is not a formal designation, as Mr Cameron knows, but it is important that we recognise the issue in the process. That is an improvement that we have made to the planning system in Scotland, and I think that it has been warmly welcomed. In a number of cases, the issue of wild land has been a contributory factor to the rejection of the planning application. However, equally, we do not want to give the impression that the wild land issue is a barrier to the development of sensible projects in good locations. It is obviously a factor that we balance against other factors such as economic impact and the contribution to tackling climate change, which should be a priority for all of us.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Linda Fabiani)
SNP
The next item of business is a statement by Paul Wheelhouse on the publication of the Scottish energy strategy. The minister will take questions at the end o...
The Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy (Paul Wheelhouse)
SNP
Today’s publication of “Scottish Energy Strategy: The Future of Energy in Scotland” marks a significant advance in Scottish Government energy policy and, ind...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
The minister will now take questions on the issues that have been raised in his statement. I will allow around 20 minutes for that.
Alexander Burnett (Aberdeenshire West) (Con)
Con
I note my entry in the register of members’ interests, particularly in relation to businesses that are involved in renewable energy. The publication of the ...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
I will point out a few things to Mr Burnett. First, the strategy is not at all delayed. We published the draft strategy in January for consultation until the...
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
I thank the minister for providing an advance copy of his statement. There is much to welcome in the energy strategy but, as ever, the Government will be jud...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
I thank Jackie Baillie for the constructive tone of her question. I reiterate the point that I made in my statement: we propose to monitor delivery of the st...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Quite a few members want to ask questions. If we are fairly succinct, everyone should get in.
Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP)
SNP
I welcome the minister’s statement and, in particular, his comments about the progress that has been made on community and locally owned renewable energy and...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
I thank Mr Lochhead for his question, which hits on an extremely important issue. The strategy sets out our rationale for our ambition of setting up a new en...
Donald Cameron (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
I refer to my renewable energy interests in my entry in the register of members’ interests. Notwithstanding his comments in the statement and in the onshore...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
I do not have time today to go through the onshore wind policy statement, but we recognise those issues in the documents. Obviously, our ambition to improve ...
Lewis Macdonald (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
The minister described six new strategic priorities, all of which I thought that I recognised as the existing and well-established energy priorities of his G...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
Lewis Macdonald is right that there is consistency on some of our priorities, but we have provided a lot of detail about the specific actions that we propose...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP)
SNP
The minister talked about smarter ways of storing energy. How can we expand Scotland’s capacity for energy storage?
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
Mr Mason raises an important point. Storage is critically important to our approach and that of the UK Government. Indeed, internationally, energy policy is ...
Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green)
Green
I welcome the energy strategy. In particular, I welcome the green box on page 63, which embeds the fracking ban in the energy strategy in the way that the Gr...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
I recognise that there is strong community interest in issues such as waste incineration. We do not want to be tied to any specific technology. Mr Ruskell is...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
It is quite clear that I am not going to get through all the question requests, but please could we speed up a bit with questions and answers?
Graeme Dey (Angus South) (SNP)
SNP
Will the minister outline the role of offshore wind in the delivery of clean green energy, particularly in the firths of Forth and Tay? How will the Scottish...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
In the cause of brevity, I will focus on two points. We are strongly supportive of offshore wind development. It is highly cost competitive in comparison wit...
Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD)
LD
I declare an interest, in that I am in receipt of FIT scheme and renewable heat initiative payments. I welcome the publication of the energy strategy. Give...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
We continue to commit significant funding to improving energy efficiency in our housing stock. It is one area in which comparable schemes in the rest of the ...
Ruth Maguire (Cunninghame South) (SNP)
SNP
Earlier this year, the First Minister opened the world’s first floating wind farm. Does the minister agree that that venture is testament to the huge renewab...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
I certainly concur with Ruth Maguire that Hywind is a very exciting project. Perhaps because of its innovative nature and its origins, we did not secure as m...
Maurice Golden (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
What level of feasibility study has been undertaken to establish the commercial and operational viability of the state-owned energy company?
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
As I set out in my response to Mr Lochhead, considerable work is going on to establish the nature of the challenges that we face. I am sure that Mr Golden re...
Claudia Beamish (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
Building on the previous question, I ask the minister whether he can give any more detail on the proposed energy company in light of the feedback on the stra...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
I made the point in my statement that we have identified a number of stakeholders who are very supportive of the principle of the work. Indeed, Ofgem has bee...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
That concludes questions on the Scottish energy strategy. I apologise to those who wished to ask a question but were not able to.