- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 10 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will set a minimum percentage for electricity supply from renewable sources below which it will not accept a bid for the contract currently out to tender for the supply of electricity to the public sector.
Answer
Information gathered from market sources has indicated that specifying specific quantities of renewable electricity can lead to reduced competition. The upturn in demand for renewable electricity has resulted in reduced quantities being readily available leading to an increased risk that few, if any, suppliers could meet a large demand from the Scottish public sector.
The national contract tender contains provisions to ensure that access to renewable electricity is not dependent on the renewable supplies available from any particular supplier at the time of submitting their tender. Innovative contract terms will ensure that other sources of supply can be accessed as necessary.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 10 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that road drainage systems are improved to cope with current and future heavy or prolonged rainfall.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-15712 on 8 September 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 10 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether its reference to “small scale renewables initiatives and opportunities to sell electricity into the grid”, in its news release of 18 August 2008, means that it will ensure that the SNP manifesto commitment that all public buildings benefit from renewable energy is delivered.
Answer
Progress is being made on realising the renewable capability across the public sector in a number of ways:
Through the Scottish Government''s Leading By Example programme we are ensuring all parts of the public sector play an exemplary role in pioneering new greener behaviours. Generating more sustainable low carbon energy through renewables is an important element of the programme;
We have extended the public sector fund to allow it to be used to support renewable technologies as well as energy efficiency;
We have tripled funding for community and microgeneration, with £13.5 million available each year compared to the previous administration''s £4.5 million;
We are more actively promoting the UK Government''s Low Carbon Building Programme which provides grants to the public sector for renewable technologies, and
We are introducing dedicated School Development Officers to support the deployment of renewable technologies in schools.
The national contract arrangements will help facilitate the development of renewable generation by ensuring appropriate tariffs are set for surplus electricity generated by public sector bodies fed back into the national grid, and thus support business cases for the installation of such technologies.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 10 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the electricity bought for the public sector under the contract currently out to tender will come from renewable sources.
Answer
The national contract will give public sector organisations the option to buy renewable electricity dependant on availability and payment of appropriate premiums.
The overall portion of renewable electricity purchased will therefore depend on the quantities specified by individual public bodies in line with their own policy and budget priorities.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 10 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many meters will be installed as a result of the contract currently out to tender for the supply of electricity to the public sector and by what date.
Answer
The tender requests suppliers to provide details of their Automatic Meter Reading Offer and seeks to leverage the demand from the Scottish public sector to reduce the cost of implementation of such solutions. Installation of meters will remain within the control of individual public bodies in accordance with local policy and budgetary priorities. It is therefore not possible at this time to estimate the number of meters which may be installed.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 10 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what specific energy reduction targets are set out in the tender for the supply of electricity to the public sector and how they will be (a) monitored and (b) achieved.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-15704 on 10 September 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 10 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what energy reductions will be achieved with the contract currently out for tender for the supply of electricity to the public sector.
Answer
The tender is focused on selecting the electricity supplier(s) for the national contract in accordance with the most economically advantageous tender. Energy reduction initiatives are defined, developed and monitored by individual public bodies and are carried out in line with their own policy and budget priorities. The national electricity contract aims to support these activities with input from suppliers.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 10 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive why it asked in its request for information from prospective electricity suppliers for information on premiums associated with green energy.
Answer
Market indicators have suggested that electricity generated from renewable sources often attract price premiums in excess of the Climate Change Levy. The request for information exercise was a structured process to gather information from the market to ascertain the extent of suppliers charging premiums and the likely levels of any such premiums.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 10 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that Network Rail is given sufficient resources, such as trackside pumps and drains, to cope with heavy or prolonged rainfall so that normal train services can continue despite severe rainfall.
Answer
The Scottish ministers'' high level output specification (HLOS) was published in July 2007 and specified ministers'' requirements for the rail network from April 2009 to March 2014. The HLOS makes clear that Network Rail require to pursue continued improvements to operational and financial performance, including improved resilience. The public funding available to support the HLOS includes an appropriate element for the continued maintenance of the Scottish rail network.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 August 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 10 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive why it specified in its request for information from prospective electricity suppliers only that one objective for suppliers was to secure the supply of a portion of green energy.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-15700 on 10 September 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
