It's Scotland's Energy: Energy Minister's Speech

Deputy Presiding Officer – congratulations to you and your colleagues for your appointment.

If you will permit me, I would also like to thank my predecessor in Dundee City East Shona Robison, an outstanding Minister and tireless advocate for Dundee. I know she will be greatly missed in this place.

Can I also thank my predecessors in my portfolio, Gillian Martin and Angus Robertson for their tireless work, guidance and valuable advice in my first days in post.

I thank colleagues across Parliament for their good wishes – I aim to work collegiality, agree where we can and disagree rigorously but agreeably where we can’t. No party or MSP has a monopoly on wisdom, not least me, and I look forward to working with everyone in this chamber.

Most of all I would like to thank the people of Dundee East for their faith in me, and my thanks to people in Dundee and Angus for the privilege of serving as their MP – I will miss the parts of the constituency that my colleagues Heather Anderson and Lloyd Melville are now fortunate to represent, but I am absolutely determined to get stuck in for Dundee.

Dundee is Scotland’s Yes City. A city where my own family were once migrants from Ireland. A city, that like the rest of Scotland is at its best because of its diversity and outward looking nature – that enriches our industries and society. That city informs my politics.

It’s a city that has been at the heart of Scotland’s success in food and drink, higher education, journalism and of course energy. That moves us to the fundamental point of our debate today.

Today we are debating where decisions should be made – here in Scotland’s Parliament, that’s voted for by people who live and work in Scotland, or Westminster. Whatever our views, surely Scotland’s energy should be in Scotland’s hands.

Scotland is one of the most energy rich countries in Europe having won the natural lottery twice, once with hydrocarbons and again with abundant renewable resources.

People in Scotland face increasing energy bills (with another increase just yesterday) and a cost of living crisis – in a country that produces far more energy than it consumes.

Just for context hydrocarbons that have sent £400 billion to the Treasury in London with little in return and no long-term planning – a finite resource with no long-term planning, one of the few counties never to have put together a future generations fund.

That is why Westminster has failed and why the Scottish Parliament deserves to have full control over energy.

Renewables alone deliver 20.8 Terrawatt hours outside Scotland annually – that is worth £1.7 billion and if we kept it in Scotland it would be enough to power every home in Scotland for 3.5 years.

What value to the rest of the UK and what value to the whole of Europe as well.

When it comes to European and UK energy security and lower bills Scotland should be part of the solution.

But we have been let down. That is why the decisions about energy should be made here. Westminster’s track record means it does not deserve to keep control.

This disconnect between Scotland’s energy wealth and the daily reality facing households is not inevitable. It is a consequence of a constitutional arrangement that leaves decisions about Scotland’s energy in the hands of Westminster – delivering, in this energy rich part of Europe, among the highest energy bills in anywhere Europe.

That should be a challenge for each and every one of us in this chamber.

The people of Scotland returned this government with a clear instruction – deliver the benefits of Scotland’s energy wealth to Scottish households, communities and businesses. That position, as set out by the First Minister, was endorsed by the electorate.

Polling evidence tells us people agree. An IPSOS survey last month told us that over three quarters of Scots think there should be more devolution over energy, with just 14% thinking it should be under Westminster control.

Can I add that that this is primarily to benefit Scotland’s citizens, but it also goes to the other part of my brief. Scotland as a responsible and outward looking member of the European family of nations.

Yesterday my first External Affairs meeting was with the Ukrainian Consul-General. Back in January, I spent two nights in a bunker in Kyiv as the Russians sought to destroy Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Europe needs to move closer together in a more dangerous world. Parties that have turned their back on Europe do so at their peril.

We are rich and we should be thriving and we should be part of Europe’s solution to the energy crisis.

I saw that for myself in Aberdeen this week – my first Ministerial visit on Monday. I am grateful to colleagues from across the sector for meeting me.

These businesses matter. The CBI report yesterday highlighted that net zero-related industries are already worth more than £10 billion, worth 5% of Scotland’s total economic output, and employ over 100,000 people in jobs.

We see that onshore and offshore, and the opportunities are set to grow.

This could be game changing for Scotland with potential global capital expenditure with a value of around £100 billion coming down the track.

There is a huge potential being held back by Westminster, not least in punitive transmission charges holding our industry back and cited to me by businesses.

This government is doing everything it can with its limited powers. We have used our own £150 million investment to attract wider investment and create a funding stack worth almost £900 million in projects across Scotland.

This matters. Too many families still face unacceptably high bills. We were told energy bills would fall by £300 under the UK Government —yet following another eye watering increase yesterday bills will be almost £300 higher. That is not good enough.

The future lies in clean, affordable and secure power – strengthening affordability, resilience and competitiveness, and protecting Scottish people and businesses from their energy bills being dictated by international events.

With the limited powers we have. We’re already:

• reforming of the energy consents process to enable us to bring forward more lower cost renewable energy;
• establishing a ScotWind Wealth Fund, a future generations fund;
• supporting community ownership of renewable energy projects and expanding the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme to £15 million;
• delivering on the £500 million Just Transition Fund; and
• supporting the Acorn project in the North East for carbon capture and storage.

More immediately, we want to see updated guidance to public bodies on community use of public land and an assessment of the potential for placing solar panels in underused spaces.

But the current devolution settlement will not let us reach our full potential.

Few industries know the price of Westminster failure better than our oil and gas sector.

North Sea oil and gas plays a vital role in Scotland’s energy system and security mix.

The excellence delivered by that workforce in the north-east has been let down by seeing their wealth squandered by successive Westminster governments.

Next door, Norway has a Sovereign Wealth Fund worth £1.56 trillion in GBP – six times Scotland’s GDP. Just think what we could have done with that.

The North Sea is a mature and declining basin, so it is vital that we have a parallel track approach to the transition, in which North Sea oil and gas production is managed alongside the increasing deployment of renewables – a transition put at risk by the current Energy Profits Levy – accelerating North Sea oil and gas decline but failing to give the support needed to renewables to ensure a just transition.

There needs to be a fair approach. There needs to be an approach to the North Sea, as the First Minister said today, on an evidence-led, case-by-case basis, where climate compatibility and energy security tests are met.

I heard in Aberdeen about that joined-up approach.

Climate action and a just transition to Net Zero brings benefits across Scotland and we will support the creation of 500 additional jobs in the Grangemouth industrial cluster.

At the same time, we will invest £9 million in support for workers at Mossmorran.

On community benefits, last year alone, over £30 million was offered under our Good Practice Principles.

A more energy secure Scotland will see us build the renewable energy generation that will lower bills, protect us from international shocks and secure good jobs for those currently employed in our offshore sector who bring so much to our economy.

Scotland has the energy but it does not yet have the power.

Scotland has vast resources – among the in Europe – but the people are not feeling the benefit.

Westminster had its chance – it failed.

What we are asking Parliament to do today is empower this Parliament to part of the solution across Europe on energy security, part of the solution locally, nationally and internationally but also vitally in people’s homes too.

I ask colleagues to back this motion today.