National Gas Transmission PLC funding allocation: EIR release

Information requested

You asked for “I would like to know if the £2million committed by the Scottish Government (as detailed here https://www.gov.scot/news/fast-tracking-scotlands-energy-transition/) to explore how a pipeline could transport Carbon Dioxide from Scotland's central belt to the North East has been allocated?

If it has been allocated, I would like to see the timeline for that study including when the study is estimated to conclude and/or any outcomes of that study.”

Response

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

The answer to your question is that £2 million was allocated to National Gas Transmission plc to support the pre-FEED phase of the SCO2T Connect project in financial year 2024/25. This was a Scottish Government grant awarded in accordance with the terms set out in the Scottish Public Finance Manual.

An exception under regulation 10(5)(e) (substantial prejudice to confidentiality of commercial information) of the EIRs applies to some of the information you have requested (any outcomes of the study). This exception applies because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the confidentiality of commercial information provided by National Gas Transmission plc, their contractors and other companies who have supplied commercially sensitive data for this project and thus cause substantial harm to their commercial interests. Disclosing this information could impact future commercial negotiations between companies and UK Government as part of the CCUS cluster sequencing process, which may prejudice their ability to submit competitive tenders and could harm their commercial business.

This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. We recognise that there is some public interest in release because disclosing information as part of open and transparent government, and to help account for the expenditure of public money. However, there is a greater public interest in protecting the commercial interests of companies which enter into Scottish Government contracts, to ensure that we are always able to obtain the best value for public money.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.