Onshore Wind Strategic Leadership Group minutes: 1 September 2023

Attendees and apologies

• Ragne Low, SG Deputy Chair, Scottish Government
• Morag Watson, Sector Deal Lead, Scottish Renewables 
• Neil Douglas, Scottish Renewables Sector Deal Support, BVG Associates
• Graham Gow, Scottish Renewables Sector Deal Support, BVG Associates
• Barry Carruthers, G12 Representative, Scottish Power Renewables
• Marcus Trinick KC, Planning Considerations Lead
• Sam Johnson, Techincal Barriers Lead, Renewable Energy Systems Ltd
• Simon Gill, Legislative and Regulatory Barriers Lead, The Energy Landscape
• Chris Morris, Community Energy Lead, Local Energy Scotland
• Robbie Kernahan, Land Use and Environmental Considerations Lead, NatureScot

Apologies

• Paul Wheelhouse, Supply Chain, Skills and Circular Economy Lead, South of Scotland Enterprise

Items and actions

Items and actions

Welcome and summary of work since SLG 5

The Scottish Government (SG) deputy Chair welcomed SLG members and gave an overview of progress since the last meeting.  

Outstanding issues and questions

The SG deputy Chair invited each theme lead to raise any outstanding issues identified following the circulation of the most recent version of the draft Sector Deal.

SLG members discussed and agreed on the determination timeframe for  repowering applications in the planning section. The Scottish Renewables (SR) deputy Chair also led a discussion on the commitment relating to the baseline information requirements for the Environmental Impact Assessments of re-powering and life extension applications.  SLG members expressed a desire to continue refining the draft commitments before reaching final agreement in the coming days.

On the skills, circularity and supply chain section SLG members discussed the balance of sector, government and collaborative commitments, as well as the timings of the proposals.

SLG members then discussed the timings and terminology of the draft actions on community benefit from onshore wind developments.  In particular, SLG members agreed on the need for developers look for opportunities to collaborate, in order to improve the options and resources available to communities.

On the land use and environment theme, SLG members agreed to strengthen language on several draft actions and refined references to process. An action was taken for the Land Use and Environment theme lead and the G12/S5 theme lead to meet and discuss this further.

Next steps

SLG members confirmed agreement on formatting and final design elements of the draft Sector Deal.

SG deputy Chair confirmed a timeline for engagement and agreement on final amendments and submission of the draft Sector Deal to the SG Chair, Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy.