Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 20 December 2017
20 Dec 2017 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Energy Strategy
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 been widely quoted as being supportive of our efforts, and that is welcome. I have to remind myself that it has been only 71 days since the announcement in October, so it is perhaps not reasonable to expect a blueprint to be provided at this time.
I assure Claudia Beamish and other members who have expressed an interest in the issue, through parliamentary questions and other routes, that fuel poverty is a key driver behind why we are trying this approach. We obviously have an interest in protecting consumers. Innovative ideas around price caps and other measures have been put forward but, in isolation, we think that they may not be successful. Competition in the market has increased over recent years and the sheer market dominance of the big six energy companies has slipped back from 98 per cent in 2013 to about 80 per cent today. That is thought to be one means by which downward pressure can be maintained on prices. I am happy to engage with Claudia Beamish as our plans develop.
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.