Electricity generation policy statement 2013

INTRODUCTION

1. The Scottish Government published an initial draft Electricity Generation Policy Statement ( EGPS) in November 2010, to support our Climate Change Report on Proposals and Policies ( RPP). The RPP is required under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 to set out proposals and policies for meeting annual emissions reductions targets from 2010 to 2022.

2. A further revision of the EGPS was published in draft in March 2012 for consultation. The 2012 draft set out the pathway to meeting the Scottish Government target of delivering the equivalent of at least 100% of gross electricity consumption from renewables by 2020. It set out how Scotland generates electricity, and gave an overview of the changes needed to meet Scottish Government targets and deliver a low carbon generating mix.

3. This document sets out a final version of the EGPS:

• to reflect views, suggestions and comments submitted to the consultation;
• to update on electricity sector developments and changes;
• following an extensive programme of targeted engagement, consultation and discussion with generators, transmission system owners, engineering, academic and market experts in Scotland and UK;
• to reflect significant political and policy developments at UK and EU level, and the nature of on-going discussions with UK and EU policy makers;
• to finalise the requirements for strategic environmental assessment ( SEA) of the EGPS and the 2020 Routemap for Renewable Energy in Scotland, as required by the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005

4. A more detailed overview of the responses to the 2012 consultation is also available on the Scottish Government website, alongside this EGPS.

5. This document will now form a basis for further and on-going modelling of the future electricity generating mix in Scotland, beyond 2020. This work will be informed by continued industrial and political developments, and through consultation and engagement with Government, industry and other stakeholders. This will include commissioning more detailed work in a number of areas where the initial modelling has found that this is needed, including the development of a Scottish Heat Generation Policy Statement and the assessment of Scottish potential for future generation sources such as geothermal, solar and interconnection development.

6. Importantly, the modelling of future Scottish electricity generating scenarios will be based on a specific Scottish Electricity Dispatch Model which the Scottish Government is developing and which will represent the UK's first regional electricity dispatch model. This will allow for far greater scrutiny of the issues affecting Scotland's electricity generation than any alternative model to date.