Procurement of public sector energy supply: EIR release

Information requested

Are you able to share how the Environmental Information Regulations are applied to the procurement of public sector energy, and can it be demonstrated how this procurement complied with the sustainable procurement duties?

Are you able to share the REGOS and RGGOs, and whether these reflect the true environmental impact of the energy supplied

Was there any consideration of entering into zero carbon or renewables tariff with EDF?

Is it possible to share how much is saved through economies of scale when procuring energy?

Response

Question 1 : Are you able to share how the Environmental Information Regulations are applied to the procurement of public sector energy, and can it be demonstrated how this procurement complied with the sustainable procurement duties?

Response 1 : Environmental Information Regulations 2004 allow the public to access environmental information held by public bodies. Therefore both Electricity and Gas framework Terms and Conditions have a Freedom of Information clause which states that the Contractor acknowledges that the Authority (Scottish Ministers) is subject to the requirements of FOISA and the Environmental Information Regulations and undertakes to assist and cooperate with the Authority to enable the Authority to comply with FOISA and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. Bidders are required to confirm full compliance with the Terms and Conditions, by accepting the terms, the clause forms part of the overall Framework Agreement and must be adhered to by the supplier once the Framework is awarded. With regards to Sustainable Procurement duties and as part of the individual procurement strategy for both Electricity and Gas, Scottish Procurement conduct a Sustainability Test to comply with sustainable procurement duties. The Sustainability Test assesses 3 sustainable aspects: social, economic and environmental, which Scottish Procurement considered as part of each tender exercise. This resulted in a question being set and scored as part of each invitation to tender process. Both frameworks looked at the social aspect of the sustainability test and highlighted considerations on the delivery of community benefits. This included school Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) projects, student training opportunities, support for charity and third sector organisations. Suppliers also need to report community benefits as part of the framework management information. The economic aspects considered supply chain opportunities, SME’s, training opportunities for staff and fair work practices. This resulted in a question being set and scored, as well as the SG Fair Work First policy and the Real Living Wage being mandated. The environmental aspect of the sustainability test considered the use of Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO’s) and Renewable Gas Guarantees of Origin (RGGOs) both of which are certificates of green or renewable origins. Other energy efficiency aspects included Automatic Meter Readers and Power Purchase Agreements for the electricity framework. This resulted in an energy efficiency question being asked as part of each invitation to tender.

Question 2 : Are you able to share the REGOS and RGGOs, and whether these reflect the true environmental impact of the energy supplied?

Response 2 : The electricity framework allows for customer to purchase REGOs in the form of Traceable REGOs and REGOS, the Gas framework allows customers to purchase RGGOs. Scottish Procurement do not hold the information requested to advise if the REGOs and RGGOs reflect the true environmental impacts of the energy supplied by the frameworks suppliers.

Question 3 : Was there any consideration of entering into zero carbon or renewables tariff with EDF?

Response 3: EDF supply the electricity, with regards to tariffs EDF do not set the tariff on the framework, instead the wholesale cost of the electricity is set through the trading carried out by Scottish Procurement which is done up to 2 ½ years in advance. The wholesale cost is based on the average price paid for the electricity over the 2 ½ years, therefore a tariff is not set by EDF. The decision to trade in advance and not set a tariff, is partof the trading process set out in the Risk Management Policy and Procedures document with is agreed with by the Risk Management Committee, which has representatives from across the public sector.

Question 4 : Is it possible to share how much is saved through economies of scale when procuring energy?

Response 4: The gas framework has cost avoidance savings for 24/25 of £7.6M. The electricity framework has cost avoidance savings for 24/25 of £37.6m

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.