Electricity Act 1989 - application fees: consultation
This consultation document sets out proposals for changes to fees to be charged for applications submitted under sections 36, 36C and 37 of the Electricity Act 1989 and invites views on the proposed changes.
2. Consultation
2.1. Introduction and Background
2.1.1 The current fee tariff for applications under sections 36, 36C and 37 of the Electricity Act came into force on 30 June 2019 through the introduction of the Fees Regulations 2019.
2.1.2 To inform the fee increase introduced in 2019, a consultation paper was published in February 2018. At that time a review of the fee levels and structure was required due to a significant shortfall in cost recovery for a number of years, and to address the imbalance between income from application fees under the Electricity Act and the costs of running the service provided by Scottish Ministers. There was widespread disagreement with the level of increases proposed from industry and they considered that fees proposed where disproportionately high. Taking into account the comments received during the 2018 consultation, the fee tariffs introduced in 2019 were lower than the proposals consulted upon and did not achieve full cost recovery. The 2018 consultation paper and Scottish Government’s response is available at the following link:
Fees Charged for Applications under the Electricity Act 1989 - Scottish Government - Citizen Space
2.1.3 At that time, the fee tariff introduced in 2019 sought to strike a balance between supporting high priority investment in low carbon generation while making sure we were adequately resourced to deliver an appropriate level of service that contributes to the delivery of the Energy Strategy.
2.1.4 We are now looking to increase the fee tariff to support full cost recovery. Scottish and UK policy mandates a transition to a more decarbonised energy system with increased use of low carbon energy sources. The deployment of new generation and associated grid infrastructure is central to this. At the same time, policies are in place at Scottish and UK level to safeguard the environment. A well-resourced energy consenting regime is vital to achieving a decarbonised energy system.
2.1.5 The Scottish Public Finance Manual sets out that the standard approach to setting out charges for public services should be full cost recovery. Our income from fees charged for applications under the Electricity Act falls short of the costs of providing the service of determining such applications, which is incompatible with the standard approach to setting charges for public services.
2.2. Fee Monitoring
2.2.1 A commitment was made to monitor the fee tariff introduced in June 2019. A Fee Monitoring Report has been prepared and provides an overview of applications and associated fees received under the Electricity Act, and an estimation of processing costs for the period July 2019 to July 2021. The Fee Monitoring Report is available here: https://consult.gov.scot/energy-and-climate-change-directorate/changes-to-fees-electricity-act-applications
2.3. Applications determined and received
2.3.1 There has been a steady rise in applications determined under the Electricity Act since 2007. The following figures provide an estimate of Applications determined in recent years.
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| refused | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| consented | 8 | 13 | 10 | 16 | 16 | 8 | 12 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 12 | 24 |
2.3.2 The ECU currently has approximately 60 live applications for development proposals such as wind, battery storage, grid, solar and hydro, with approximately 100 further enquiries for future applications to be potentially submitted over the next one to three years. Since 2007, the ECU have received approximately 15 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) applications annually. Applications have increased in complexity as technology develops.
2.3.3 Applications received for offshore wind follow sectoral plans produced by Marine Scotland and a leasing round administered by Crown Estate Scotland. This plan led approach results in clusters of applications being received, rather than a continuous flow of applications.
2.3.4 This is evident from the Fee Monitoring Report, which showed that the fees received during the monitoring period were limited because the previous round of offshore wind applications were received and determined by Scottish Ministers prior to June 2019 when the Fees Regulations 2019 were introduced.
2.3.5 The Scottish Ministers published the latest Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy in October 2020. The plan assessed the potential impact of up to 10GW of future projects throughout the Plan Options. The recent Scotwind commercial leasing round, announced on 17 January 2022 by Crown Estate Scotland, awarded lease options with the potential for up to 25GW capacity. Accordingly, the scale and number of applications brought forward may be larger than anticipated. It is critical that the public sector is resourced adequately to meet future offshore wind and other energy rounds.
2.3.6 In addition to this significant increase in major infrastructure applications, Marine Scotland has continuing casework responsibilities for existing cases.
2.4. Net Zero Commitments
2.4.1 An efficient and effective consenting process is critical to unlocking the potential to deliver renewable energy developments and economic benefits, whilst helping to achieve our net zero targets.
2.4.2 The Climate Change Plan Update sets out the Scottish Government’s pathway to our new and ambitious targets set by the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019. It recognises the need to continue to review our energy consenting processes, making further improvements and efficiencies where possible, to reduce determination timescales for complex electricity generation and network infrastructure applications.
2.4.3 A Fairer, Greener Scotland: Programme for Government 2021-22 highlights that development of renewable energy presents an immense opportunity for Scotland to lead by example – showing how a clean energy future is possible at home, and as a net exporter of renewable energy, attracting further investment and ensuring our progress to net zero is environmentally and economically beneficial. Both onshore and offshore wind energy deployment will play a vital role in delivering our net zero commitments and subject to an ongoing consultation process, Scottish Government will set an ambition to achieve between 8GW and 12GW of installed onshore wind by 2030 and with the Scotwind offshore wind commercial leasing round, Crown Estate Scotland has awarded lease options with the potential of up to 25GW capacity.
2.5. Proposed changes to fees
2.5.1 It is within the context of Scottish Government’s ambitious renewable energy targets for a just transition to net zero that the fee tariff requires to be increased to ensure full cost recovery of the service to deliver an efficient consenting process. The Scottish Government is proposing to change fee tariffs as set out in Table A below. This includes an increase to all fee categories of approximately 20% as well as proposing new bandings for larger scale applications which include developments that exceed capacities of 500MW, 750MW and 1GW. These additional bandings are to reflect the growing scale of offshore renewable electricity generating stations. The Scottish Government is also proposing to change the variation fee and bandings for applications under Section 36C of the Electricity Act. This is to reflect the increased resource needed for variation applications requiring an EIA. The bandings for variation applications which, if granted, would not increase the capacity of the generating station but that do require an EIA, are proposed to increase to reflect the range of resource required for all applications received in that category.
2.5.2 The proposed fee tariff increase is to meet the running costs of the service provided by ECU and Marine Scotland in line with the Scottish Public Finance Manual. The increase in fees would also support a well-resourced energy consenting regime, vital to support Scotland’s transition to a more decarbonised energy system. The following Table A illustrates the proposed increase to the fee tariff and changes to the structure.
Table A: Current and proposed fees
Table 1 - Fees for applications made under section 36 of the Electricity Act to construct, extend or operate a generating station
| Application Type | Current Fees | Proposed Fees |
|---|---|---|
| (a) not exceeding 10 megawatts | £6,500 | £7,800 |
| (b) exceeding 10 megawatts but not exceeding 50 megawatts | £25,000 | £30,000 |
| (c) exceeding 50 megawatts but not exceeding 100 megawatts | £70,000 | £84,000 |
| (d) exceeding 100 megawatts but not exceeding 300 megawatts | £100,000 | £120,000 |
| (e) exceeding 300 megawatts but not exceeding 500 megawatts | £150,000 | £180,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 300 megawatts but not exceeding 500 megawatts (new banding introduced) |
| (f) exceeding 500 megawatts but not exceeding 750 megawatts (new banding introduced) | £150,000 | £216,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 500 megawatts but not exceeding 750 megawatts (new banding introduced) |
| (g) Exceeding 750 megawatts but not exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) | £150,000 | £264,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 750 megawatts but not exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) |
| (h) Exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) | £150,000 | £264,000 + £15,000 per every additional 500 megawatts above one gigawatt for development which has a capacity exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) |
| Application Type | Current Fees | Proposed Fees |
|---|---|---|
| (a) not exceeding 10 megawatts | £6,500 | £7,800 |
| (b) exceeding 10 megawatts but not exceeding 50 megawatts | £25,000 | £30,000 |
| (c) exceeding 50 megawatts but not exceeding 100 megawatts | £70,000 | £84,000 |
| (d) exceeding 100 megawatts but not exceeding 300 megawatts | £100,000 | £120,000 |
| (e) exceeding 300 megawatts but not exceeding 500 megawatts | £150,000 | £180,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 300 megawatts but not exceeding 500 megawatts (new banding introduced) |
| (f) exceeding 500 megawatts but not exceeding 750 megawatts (new banding introduced) | £150,000 | £216,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 500 megawatts but not exceeding 750 megawatts (new banding introduced) |
| (g) exceeding 750 megawatts but not exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) | £150,000 | £264,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 750 megawatts but not exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) |
| (h) exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) | £150,000 | £264,000 + £15,000 per every additional 500 megawatts above one gigawatt for development which has a capacity exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) |
| Application Type | Current Fees | Proposed Fees |
|---|---|---|
| (a) not exceeding 10 megawatts | £7,000 | £8,400 |
| (b) exceeding 10 megawatts but not exceeding 50 megawatts | £35,000 | £42,000 |
| (c) exceeding 50 megawatts but not exceeding 100 megawatts | £125,000 | £150,000 |
| (d) exceeding 100 megawatts but not exceeding 300 megawatts | £180,000 | £216,000 |
| (e) exceeding 300 megawatts but not exceeding 500 megawatts | £280,000 | £336,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 300 megawatts but not exceeding 500 megawatts (new banding introduced) |
| (f) exceeding 500 megawatts but not exceeding 750 megawatts (new banding introduced) | £280,000 | £437,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 500 megawatts but not exceeding 750 megawatts (new banding introduced) |
| (g) exceeding 750 megawatts but not exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) | £280,000 | £548,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 750 megawatts but not exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) |
| (h) Exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) | £280,000 | £548,000 + £30,000 per every additional 500 megawatts above one gigawatt for development which has a capacity exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) |
| Application Type | Current Fees | Proposed Fees |
|---|---|---|
| (a) not exceeding 10 megawatts | £7,000 | £8,400 |
| (b) exceeding 10 megawatts but not exceeding 50 megawatts | £35,000 | £42,000 |
| (c) exceeding 50 megawatts but not exceeding 100 megawatts | £125,000 | £150,000 |
| (d) exceeding 100 megawatts but not exceeding 300 megawatts | £180,000 | £216,000 |
| (e) exceeding 300 megawatts but not exceeding 500 megawatts | £280,000 | £336,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 300 megawatts but not exceeding 500 megawatts (new banding introduced) |
| (f) exceeding 500 megawatts but not exceeding 750 megawatts (new banding introduced) | £280,000 | £437,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 500 megawatts but not exceeding 750 megawatts (new banding introduced) |
| (g) exceeding 750 megawatts but not exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) | £280,000 | £548,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 750 megawatts but not exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) |
| (h) Exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) | £280,000 | £548,000 + £30,000 per every additional 500 megawatts above one gigawatt for development which has a capacity exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) |
| Application Type | Current Fees | Proposed Fees |
|---|---|---|
| (a) not exceed 10 megawatts | £6,500 | £7,800 |
| (b) exceed 10 megawatts | £25,000 | £30,000 |
| Application Type | Current Fees | Proposed Fees |
|---|---|---|
| (a) not exceed 10 megawatts | £6,500 | £7,800 |
| (b) exceed 10 megawatts | £25,000 | £30,000 |
Table 3 - Fees for applications made under section 36 of the Electricity Act to construct, extend or operate a generating station
| Application Type | Current Fees | Proposed Fees |
|---|---|---|
| (a) not exceed 10 megawatts | £4,875 | £5,850 |
| (b) exceed 10 megawatts but not exceed 50 megawatts | £18,750 | £22,500 |
| (c) exceed 50 megawatts but not exceed 100 megawatts | £52,500 | £63,000 |
| (d) exceed 100 megawatts but not exceed 300 megawatts | £75,000 | £90,000 |
| (e) exceed 300 megawatts but not exceed 500 megawatts | £112,500 | £135,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 300 megawatts but not exceeding 500 megawatts (new banding introduced) |
| (f) exceed 500 megawatts but not exceed 750 megawatts (new banding introduced) | £112,500 | £164,400 for development which has a capacity exceeding 500 megawatts but not exceeding 750 megawatts (new banding introduced) |
| (g) exceed 750 megawatts but not exceed one gigawatt (new banding introduced) | £112,500 | £200,500 for development which has a capacity exceeding 750 megawatts but not exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) |
| (h) exceed one gigawatt (new banding introduced) | £112,500 | £200,500 + £15,000 per every additional 500 megawatts above one gigawatt for development which has a capacity exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) |
| Application Type | Current Fees | Proposed Fees |
|---|---|---|
| (a) not exceed 10 megawatts | £5,250 | £6,300 |
| (b) exceed 10 megawatts but not exceed 50 megawatts | £26,250 | £31,500 |
| (c) exceed 50 megawatts but not exceed 100 megawatts | £93,750 | £112,500 |
| (d) exceed 100 megawatts but not exceed 300 megawatts | £135,000 | £162,000 |
| (e) exceed 300 megawatts but not exceed 500 megawatts | £210,000 | £252,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 300 megawatts but not exceeding 500 megawatts (new banding introduced) |
| (f) exceed 500 megawatts but not exceed 750 megawatts (new banding introduced) | £210,000 | £310,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 500 megawatts but not exceeding 750 megawatts (new banding introduced) |
| (g) exceed 750 megawatts but not exceed one gigawatt (new banding introduced) | £210,000 | £367,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 750 megawatts but not exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) |
| (h) exceed one gigawatt (new banding introduced) | £210,000 | £367,000 + £30,000 per every additional 500 megawatts above one gigawatt for development which has a capacity exceeding one gigawatt (new banding introduced) |
| Application Type | Current Fees | Proposed Fees |
|---|---|---|
| (a) not exceeding 10 megawatts | £4,875 | £5,740 |
| (b) exceeding 10 megawatts | £18,750 | £22,500 |
| Application Type | Current Fees | Proposed Fees |
|---|---|---|
| (a) not exceeding 10 megawatts | £4,875 | £6,300 |
| (b) exceeding 10 megawatts but not exceeding 50 megawatts | £18,750 | £31,500 |
| (c) exceeding 50 megawatts but not exceeding 100 megawatts | £18,750 | £112,500 |
| (d) exceeding 100 megawatts but not exceeding 300 megawatts | £18,750 | £162,000 |
| (e) exceeding 300 megawatts but not exceeding 500 megawatts | £18,750 | £252,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 300 megawatts but not exceeding 500 megawatts |
| (f) exceeding 500 megawatts but not exceeding 750 megawatts | £18,750 | £310,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 500 megawatts but not exceeding 750 megawatts |
| (g) exceeding 750 megawatts but not exceeding one gigawatt | £18,750 | £367,000 for development which has a capacity exceeding 750 megawatts but not exceeding one gigawatt |
| (h) exceeding one gigawatt | £18,750 | £367,000 + £30,000 per every additional 500 megawatts above one gigawatt for development which has a capacity exceeding one gigawatt |
Contact
Email: feesreview2022@gov.scot
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