Renewables obligation
The Renewables Obligation Scotland (ROS) scheme was introduced in 2002 with the aim of incentivising and supporting the growth of renewable generation capacity in Scotland. The ROS has been successful in this aim and will continue to support accredited generators, despite closing to all new generating capacity on 31 March 2017. The scheme is set to end entirely in 2037.
The Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme is now the UK Government’s main mechanism for supporting low-carbon electricity generation across Great Britain.
The ROS is administered by Ofgem on behalf of Scottish Ministers. You can see more information, including the full scheme guidance, on Ofgem’s website.
The Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Order 2009 (as amended) requires the Scottish Ministers to announce the level of the obligation six months before the start of an obligation period. The obligation level refers to the number of SROCs that suppliers serving customers in Scotland are obliged to present per MWh (megawatt hour) of electricity they supply.
Renewables obligation 2026 to 2027
In accordance with article 12(4), the Scottish Ministers confirm that the obligation level for suppliers to customers in Scotland for the obligation period 2026 to 2027 will be 0.472 ROCs/MWh. This will be in effect from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.
You can see details of the calculations used to determine the 2026/27 obligation level, as well as those for previous years on the UK Government’s website.
Read more about the renewables obligation level calculations for 2026 to 2027 on the gov.uk website.
Consultation on amendments to the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Order 2009
We carried out a joint consultation with the UK Government and Northern Ireland Executive in October/November 2025 relating to amending the inflation indexation on the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) from RPI to CPI. Read more about the consultation and the rationale behind the change.
We published a partial business and regulatory impact assessment relating to this consultation on 12 November 2025.
We published the following impact assessments on 28 January 2026:
- final business and regulatory impact assessment
- equality impact assessment
- child rights and wellbeing impact assessment
- island communities impact assessment screening
Our draft Scottish Statutory Instrument (SSI) making the change from RPI to CPI was laid in the Scottish Parliament on 28 January 2026, with a coming into force date of 1 April 2026.
Amendment Order 2023 - changes to the mutualisation threshold
Following a public consultation which ran between 11 November 2021 and 23 December 2021, the Scottish Government changed the mutualisation threshold set in the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Order 2009 from a fixed level to 0.1% of the total UK scheme value.
The amendment ensures that the threshold value will be proportionate to the overall costs of the scheme across the UK, and change from year to year alongside the total scheme value. The amendment also brings the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Order 2009 in line with the legislation governing the other UK schemes, and helps to ensure that the scheme balances mutualisation risk between suppliers and generators more fairly.
This change came into effect from 31 March 2023
Renewables obligation archive
A record of the level from previous years can be found in the gov.scot renewables obligation archive.
Information on the ROS in years prior to 2018 to 2019 can be found in the renewables obligation archive.