Scottish Energy Advisory Board minutes: February 2025

Attendees and apologies

Co-Chairs

• Rt. Hon. John Swinney MSP, First Minister (co-chair)
• Prof. Sir Jim McDonald, Principal Professor and Vice Chancellor, University of Strathclyde (co-chair)

Members in attendance

• Melfort Campbell, CEO, IMES Group
• Lewis Shand-Smith, Chair, Energy Consumers Commission
• Keith Anderson, CEO, Scottish Power
• Adrian Gillespie, Chief Executive, Scottish Enterprise
• Sam Ghibaldan, Chief Executive, Consumer Scotland
• Paul Wheelhouse (in place of Jane Morrison-Ross), Head of Energy Transition, South of Scotland Enterprise
• Martin Pibworth (in place of Alistair Phillip-Davies), Chief Commercial Officer, Scottish and Southern Energy
• Matt Vickers (attending in place of Fintan Slye), Director of Engineering and Customer Solutions, National Grid ESO
• Philippa Parmiter, CEO, NECCUS
• Al Denholm, CEO, Scottish National Investment Bank
• Stuart Black, Chief Executive, Highlands and Islands Enterprise
• Dave Pearson, Group Sustainable Development Director, Star Refrigeration
• Simon Kilonback , CEO, SGN
• Claire Jones (in place of Yusuf Patel) , Head of Onshore Wind commercial and Investments, EDF Renewables
• Frank Mitchell, Chair, Skills Development Scotland
• Brian McFarlane, Chair/Head of Projects, SOWEC/SSE
• Keith MacLean, Director, Providence Policy
• Professor Keith Bell, UK Climate Change Committee
• Rozanne Foyer, General Secretary, STUC
• Claire Mack, Chief Executive, Scottish Renewables
• Mike Gaskill (in place of David Whitehouse), Head of External Affairs, OEUK

Scottish Government attendees

• Gillian Martin, Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy
• Dr Alasdair Allan , Acting Minister for Climate Action

• Kersti Berge, Director of Energy and Climate Change
• Catherine Williams, Deputy Director, Energy Strategy and Markets
• Ragne Low, Deputy Director, Offshore Wind Programme and Supply Chain
• SEAB Secretariat

Apologies

• Fintan Slye, Director, CEO of the National Energy System Operator (NESO)
• Alistair Phillips-Davies, Chief Executive, Scottish and Southern Energy
• Andrew Walls, Interim CEO, ORE Catapult
• Jane Morrison-Ross, Chief Executive, South of Scotland Enterprise
• Ian Marchant, CEO, Dunelm Energy
• Yusuf Patel, Chief Technical Officer, EDF Renewables
• David Whitehouse, Chief Executive, Offshore Energies UK
• Willie Watt, Chair, Scottish National Investment Bank
• Jim McColl, CEO, Clyde Blowers
• Myrtle Dawes, CEO, Net Zero Technology Centre

Items and actions

Welcome, introductions, and updates of previous meeting

Sir Jim McDonald introduced the agenda. He updated on actions from the previous meeting, noting the Joint Vision Statement between Great British Energy and Scottish Public Bodies, continuing engagement with the UK government (UKG) on Clean Power 2030, and that proposals on the Scottish Energy Advisory Board's (SEAB) terms of reference and Strategic Leadership Groups will be discussed at the next meeting.

First Minister introductory remarks

The First Minister spoke about the relevance of the new Budget to the opportunities of the energy transition. He noted that the transition to renewable energy and stimulating the economy are complementary goals. The FM referred to the work of the Enterprise Agencies and Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB) on renewables, including the Budget’s £200 million capitalisation for SNIB, the focus on investor confidence and policy certainty, and recent examples of investments. The FM also noted the Scottish Parliament’s recent consent to the UK Government's GB Energy Bill, and alignment with UKG where possible on supporting investments, so that GB Energy is an effective investment vehicle for Scotland. The FM said that the Scottish Government (SG) is working closely with the UK Government to identify an alternative course for the Grangemouth refinery.

Introduction on main items (Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero)

 The Cabinet Secretary introduced the discussion on opportunities for Scotland in context of the UK-wide transition to clean power, with SG’s focus being to secure clear benefits for communities, reduced costs for consumers, local and shared ownership, and good jobs. She said this is an opportunity for partners to work together on delivery of the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan; the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP); and the Review of Electricity Markets Arrangements.
The Cabinet Secretary noted that SG supports the National Energy System Operator's (NESO) actions to reform the grid connections process and manage the queue, to enable more renewables projects in Scotland.

Clean Power 2030 (Kersti Berge)

Kersti Berge presented on the Scottish Government’s priorities in context of the  Clean Power 2030 Action Plan – with a focus on actions needed to realise the wider opportunities for the economy, communities and consumers – noting that:

• Scotland has vast potential for further deployment of renewables, which will play a key role in achieving Clean Power 2030 (CP2030)
• the Plan includes measures to accelerate grid infrastructure build-out and grid connections; and measures to support renewables through Contract for Difference (CfD) reforms
• SG’s £500m investment in the offshore wind supply chain over five years
• key issues for Scotland are: maintaining investor confidence; alignment with SG’s own renewables ambitions; the need for communities and consumers to benefit; securing wider economic benefits; devolved powers being taken into account; and a clear path for post-2030

SSEP and Grid Connections (Matt Vickers)

Matt Vickers presented on NESO’s role in reforms, including the SSEP, grid connections, and Regional Energy Strategic Plans (RESPs). He described how:

• NESO is taking a whole-systems approach to energy, via strategic energy planning for pre-2030 and post-2030
• the SSEP was co-commissioned by UKG, SG and Welsh Government, and will provide certainty on the longer- term projects pipeline
• RESPs will model local supply and demand, factoring in broader impact
• NESO will be curating and prioritising the grid connections queue – as the current queue will not be effective for Clean Power 2030 or net zero. For this, NESO is focused on project readiness and strategic alignment with 2030
• the UK-wide and regional tech capacity indications are being used for this prioritisation, with a focus on investor certainty and benefits for consumers

Discussion – UK-wide energy reforms and priorities for Scotland

• Sir Jim referred to the key questions for the discussion – particularly what action members can take to deliver these reforms in a way that maintains investor confidence; secures growth and jobs; and benefits communities and consumers
• Keith Bell asked how the maximum capacities for the grid queue are determined by NESO. Matt responded that the capacity figures are informed by NESO’s Future Energy Scenarios, and that they have set this out to 2035 to provide longer-term certainty whilst still being able to prioritise connections for 2030
• Paul Wheelhouse noted the importance of demand-side projects, which are also competing for connections. Matt responded that demand projects are uncapped in terms of the connections queue, but for the optimum energy system the NESO still has to be able to designate particularly strategic projects
• Claire Mack welcomed the engagement and noted the importance of Scottish involvement in ongoing governance for strategic energy planning