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The Scottish Government does not hold information on the price of energy generated by Torness nuclear power station. This information is of a commercial nature and shared only between the contract holders and the customer.

However, what is clear is that existing nuclear is expensive: under the current contract awarded by the UK Government to Hinkley Point C, the electricity that will be generated will be priced at £92.50 per megawatt hour (using 2012 prices). In contrast, wind is one of the cheapest forms of energy. Electricity being generated from offshore wind will be priced at £37.65 per megawatt hour.

In addition to this direct funding, nuclear developers have had the potential to profit from a Contract for Difference for 35 years for Hinkley Point C and will be able to use a Regulated Asset Base funding model that further reduces their financial risk for future projects. In contrast, other technologies with high capital expenditure costs, such as Pumped Hydro Storage, have not been able to utilise these market mechanisms to facilitate deployment. We continue to call on the UK Government to put in place a suitable market mechanism for Pumped Hydro Storage developments.

Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme would be a major part of our efforts to reduce littering. The Scottish Government does not consider that section 67 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 is relevant to any bottles or cans which have been littered and therefore no assessment has been made of its impact on the scheme.

As 7 June, over 670 producers responsible for more than 2 billion drinks containers, representing 95% of products sold in Scotland had registered with Circularity Scotland.

This represented the full range of drink producers from global brands to small craft breweries and distilleries.

The Contracts for Difference scheme is a UK Government mechanism.

Information about all Contracts for Difference strike prices is available in the public domain here: Contracts for Difference - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study considers the potential contribution nuclear can make as a dispatchable low-carbon technology.

The report states: “The fundamental problem is cost. Other generation technologies have become cheaper in recent decades, while new nuclear plants have only become costlier.”

As set out in our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, rather than new nuclear, it is significant growth in renewables, such as wind power, as well as investment in storage, hydrogen and carbon capture which will provide the best pathway for Scotland to achieve net zero by 2045.

Modelling undertaken as part of the evidence base underpinning our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, estimated electricity generation capacity and demand in Scotland in 2030 according to a range of scenarios.

Across all three scenarios electricity generation capacity ranged between 20-41 GW (47-119 TWh) and electricity demand ranged from 48-55 TWh.

For refence, this analysis can be found at the following web address: https://www.climatexchange.org.uk/media/5419/cxc-scottish-whole-energy-system-scenarios-may-2022.pdf

Analysis undertaken as part of the analysis underpinning the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan does not show any significant negative impacts from the closure of Hunterston B and Torness nuclear power stations on Scotland’s CO2 emissions.

Under this modelling, the reduction in electricity generation from nuclear power plants in Scotland will be compensated for by the vast expansion of low-cost renewables and flexible technologies such as storage, not by fossil fuel plants which would increase greenhouse gas emissions.

The Scottish Government uses a range of evidence in its assessment of the future energy system. The whole-system modelling produced by Energy Systems Catapult and which underpins the draft Energy Strategy was completed before the publication of the UNECE report, and was therefore not informed by the UNECE findings.

The Contracts for Difference scheme is a UK Government mechanism.

Information about all Contracts for Difference strike prices is available in the public domain here: Contracts for Difference - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .

According to The International Atomic Energy Agency’s Power Reactor Information System (PRIS), the average lifetime capacity factor for Torness Nuclear Power Station was around 75% for Unit 1, and 74% for Unit 2 in 2022.