Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-13558

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 08 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the economic benefit gained by moving £15 million from the Renewable Energy Investment Fund to other projects as a result of the Budget (Scotland) (No.2) Bill passed on 6 February 2013 and what these projects are.

The funding for renewable energy projects through the Renewable Energy Investment Fund has been re-profiled to reflect industry needs. In line with the overall economic strategy set out within the Draft Budget, the assessment was that the maximum benefit to the economy and jobs would be through redirecting any unused funding to alternative short term uses, such as the additional shovel ready projects announced in June and December 2012, whilst ensuring the funding will be available in the medium term when required for renewable projects.

Question reference: S4W-13549

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 08 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 20 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-12998 by Fergus Ewing on 5 March 2013, how much private sector investment has been leveraged into the wider renewables industry through projects supported by the National Renewables Infrastructure Fund at (a) Port of Dundee, (b) Port of Leith, (c) Rosyth, (d) Methil, (e) Hunterston, (f) Inchgreen, (g) Westway, (h) Kishorn, (i) Arnish, (j) Machrihanish, (k) Nigg, (l) Wick, (m) Scrabster and (n) Mallaig.

In terms of the wider picture of investment into the renewables industry more generally Scottish Renewables have recently published an assessment of investment into renewables in 2011. This is based on the capacity installed in each technology multiplied by estimates of capital cost per Mega Watt. Their analysis shows projects with a total capital cost of £757.2 million were commissioned in 2011. Similar analysis for the first nine months of 2012, shows that this exceeded over £1.3 billion.

Scottish Renewables also undertook more detailed assessment of investment into offshore wind and this research shows that £164.5 million has been invested in the Scottish economy by the six companies currently developing offshore wind projects in the Scottish Renewable Energy Zone with more than one third of this investment (£63.66 million) delivered in 2012.

Question reference: S4W-13553

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 08 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 20 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what annual spending was expected from the Renewable Energy Investment Fund when it was established.

Question reference: S4W-13554

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 08 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 20 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what projects the Renewable Energy Investment Fund has supported and what private sector support was leveraged for each.

Question reference: S4W-13560

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 08 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 20 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it determined that delaying spending from the Renewable Energy Investment Fund will not harm efforts to develop renewable energy.

The phasing of expenditure on the REIF will reflect the needs of industry and community developers. Scotland is enjoying record activity and investment in renewable energy. We exceeded our interim target to generate 31% of our energy requirement by 2011 by some 4%. Scottish renewables have shown that investment in Scotland’s renewable energy industry topped £900 million pounds in the first six months of 2012, putting it well on track to reach £1 billion over the course of the whole year.

Question reference: S4W-13547

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 08 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 20 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-13005 by Fergus Ewing on 5 March 2013, how it assesses the economic impact of a project prior to receiving investment from the National Renewables Infrastructure Fund and what assessment it made for each project that the fund has supported.

Question reference: S4W-13552

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 08 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 20 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications it has received for funding from the Renewable Energy Investment Fund.

Since launched in October 2012, there has been a good level of interest in REIF from a wide variety of sources with 95 enquiries received which have been, or are being, considered by the REIF delivery team covering all priority sectors; of these, some have been declined as being unsuitable, others are still at an early information enquiry stage. Several of these are expected to progress through to active and live projects during the course of the fund.

Question reference: S4W-13543

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 08 March 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 20 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-13003 by Fergus Ewing on 5 March 2013, how it will measure its success in delivering the estimated 28,000 jobs that the National Renewables Infrastructure Fund aims to help deliver.

Projects supported by Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise develop a Monitoring and Evaluation framework, which follows Treasury Green Book approach. Overall at a programme level Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise monitor milestones that have been identified as forming the critical path to the realisation of the 28,000 jobs estimate.

A number of key milestones relate to actions which are outwith the control of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, such as electricity market reform, consents for site development, grid connections and financing of offshore wind projects. Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise work with a range of stakeholders to articulate the need for progress on these issues.

Question reference: S4O-01930

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many adults in the NHS Orkney area are on a waiting list to be registered with a NHS dentist.

Question reference: S4W-13330

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 13 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the demand for (a) electricity and (b) heating is met by (i) biomass and (ii) combined heat and power plants.

Figures for electricity and heat from biomass and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants are set out in the following table. It is important to note that figures for (i) biomass include some some of the electricity and heat generated by CHP plants including under (ii), as well as, for (a), electricity-only biomass plants and, for (b), heat-only “primary combustion” plants. Figures for (ii) Combined Heat and Power plants include both fossil fuel and renewable CHP, including biomass.

(a-i) The renewable electricity generated from biomass and waste in 2011 is set out in Table 1. This includes electricity generated by both biomass CHP and biomass electricity plants:

Table 1: Renewable electricity generated from biomass & waste in 2011

	Electricity generated (GWh)
Landfill gas	507
Sewage sludge digestion	35
Other biomass (inc. co-firing)*	863

*Note: Includes co-firing, plant biomass, animal biomass and biodegradable part of municipal solid waste.

Source: DECC Energy Trends, December 2012

(a-ii) In 2011, Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants in Scotand generated 2,864 GWh of electricity (Source: DECC Energy Trends, September 2012).

(b-i) The Energy Saving Trust in Scotland produce an annual report on renewable heat in Scotland for the Scottish Government. Table 2 shows the renewable heat generated from biomass and waste in 2011:

Table 2: Renewable heat generated from biomass & waste in 2011

	Heat generated (GWh)
Biomass (wood) primary combustion	1,045
Biomass (wood) CHP	978
Waste treatment	128

Source: Energy Saving Trust, Renewable Heat in Scotland 2011.

(b-ii) In 2011, Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants in Scotand generated 6,813 GWh of heat (Source: DECC Energy Trends, September 2012).

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