Low cost renewable energy generation: EIR release

Information requested

“Speaking in the Scottish Parliament on 2nd September 2025, the First Minister made reference to “our vast low cost renewable energy generation”.

Please provide a list of the renewable generations assets in Scotland which the First Minister was characterising as “low cost”. And for each asset, please provide any information held by the Scottish Government which demonstrates that the asset is “low cost”. This should be real world data, not modelling, and it should be data relating to assets which actually exist.”

Response

The comment made by the First Minister is based on work published by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) on electricity generation costs in Great Britain. The report can be obtained from the DESNZ website at the following link: Electricity generation costs 2023.

The report presents levelised costs for electricity generation technologies. A “levelised cost” is the average cost of the lifetime of the plant per MWh of electricity generated. Levelised costs reflect the cost of building, operating, and decommissioning a generic plant for each technology – and are not site-specific.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have a list of the renewable generation assets in Scotland that are characterised as “low cost”. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have.

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. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about low cost renewable generation assets, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

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