- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive which banks provided assistance in drawing up the contracts for the Forestry Commission Scotland’s renewables contracts announced by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change on 22 February 2011.
Answer
No banks were involved in drawing up the contracts but financial advice was provided by Grant Thornton''s Edinburgh office. However, prior to the tendering exercise FCS received advice on renewable energy developments from Fortis Bank.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what estimates it has made of the renewables potential of the forestry estate.
Answer
Forestry Commission Scotland estimate having 2GW of capacity installed (wind and hydro, excluding large-scale pumped storage) on the national forest estate by 2020.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what options were explored by Forestry Commission Scotland prior to concluding that private companies be awarded the renewables contracts announced by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change on 22 February 2011.
Answer
A series of options were modelled ranging from the current leasing arrangement through joint ventures to Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) self development. Given FCS cannot borrow funding for such purposes the lease/joint version option was seen to be the best route to follow.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will delay the eight month limit from the agreement of exclusivity arrangements for communities to put forward their own proposals for renewables contracts the Forestry Commission Scotland estate.
Answer
Communities are welcome to flag up their interest during the eight month period if they want to pursue a renewables project under the National Forest Land Scheme (NFLS) prior to the list of sites being finalised by the developer. Once that list is established communities will have another opportunity to take forward sites via the NFLS scheme for non allocated sites. They will be able to engage with the developers to avail of the negotiated Forestry Commission Scotland deal for a longer period after the exclusivity period prior to a planning application being made.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis it proposed the deadline of eight months from the agreement of exclusivity arrangements for communities to propose their own renewables projects on the Forestry Commission Scotland estate.
Answer
This was considered to be a reasonable time for the development partner companies to assess the potential and draw up a portfolio of suitable sites.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Forestry Commission Scotland renewables contracts announced by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change on 22 February 2011 require safeguarding locally based employment for construction and maintenance work as part of the tendering process.
Answer
Due to the nature of the commercial process undergone, Forestry Commission Scotland could not specify requirements in this way however, each developer has stressed as part of their submission the importance they attach to local development and sustainability.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how many community projects were developed as part of the hydro-tendering process by the Forestry Commission Scotland renewables contracts announced by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change on 22 February 2011.
Answer
The results of the hydro-tendering process were announced in August and October 2010. The appointed development companies are still in the exclusivity phase and nothing has been decided as yet. Discussions are underway with some communities however.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how much money it expects to raise from the Forestry Commission Scotland renewables contracts announced by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change on 22 February 2011.
Answer
Depending on energy prices Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) anticipate total renewable energy derived income of about £30 million per year by 2020, this is based on FCS''s forecast that an additional 500MW of installed capacity should be achievable. This extra income will be reinvested and will therefore be a huge saving to the taxpayer.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the contracts for Forestry Commission Scotland renewables contracts announced by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change on 22 February 2011 have review points where increasing payments from companies with access to the commission’s estate might be considered.
Answer
The lease arrangements are structured to provide income to Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) based on a share of the gross income generated by specific projects or a share of net income where FCS is joint venture partner or a combination of both. Therefore if income rises due to increasing energy costs FCS will benefit.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2011
-
Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 21 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of community renewables development scheme that have previously been worked up to the appropriate level for consideration under the provisions of the Forestry Commission Scotland renewables contracts out to tender.
Answer
Where Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) was aware of community schemes that had started doing some preparatory work before the renewables contracts were announcement on 22 February, FCS built that knowledge into the arrangements by withholding the relevant forest blocks from the process. This has happened in the case of Dalavich, Strathyre and Mull.
