Ministers downgrade Scottish offshore energy projection

Offshore wind farms are a key part of Scotland's renewables industry

The Scottish government has been accused of a lack of transparency over the country's renewable offshore power potential.

Ministers used a letter to a Holyrood committee to downgrade Scotland's projected share of Europe's offshore energy capacity.

For years, ministers said Scotland had 25% of that capacity but new figures suggest it is around 9%.

The Scottish Tories said ministers showed a "contempt for transparency".

Energy Secretary Neil Gray denied a lack of transparency and said he hoped the statistical update would "put that debate to rest".

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The Scottish government said the previous figure was "understood to be accurate" at the time, but a new analysis had since been carried out.

The new calculation is a comparison with only EU countries, rather than Europe as a whole.

The 25% figure had been used since 2010, and was highlighted in the Scottish government's 2014 white paper which made the case for independence.

But ministers conceded last year that this statistic was not accurate and the new calculation was given to a Holyrood committee last month.

It was published in the annex of a letter Mr Gray sent to the energy committee on 21 September.

Energy Secretary Neil Gray denied the government had not been transparent

Documents obtained by pro-union campaign group These Islands, and shared with BBC Scotland News, show that officials advised against issuing "proactive communications" to highlight the revised figure.

Mr Gray said his update was "there in full daylight for everyone to see", adding that it had "hardly been a secret".

"This is a good news story," he told BBC Scotland News. "It shows that Scotland has a substantial amount of Europe's renewable energy potential."

Mr Gray said the statistics went through "a rigorous process" to ensure accuracy before being published.

"The figure has now been clarified, which I hope will now put that debate to rest and ensure that we are able to focus now on delivering that massive potential," he added.

Sea ports such as Montrose could benefit from construction and supply jobs for the offshore renewables industry

In Mr Gray's letter to the convener of Holyrood's energy committee, he said that Scotland's ambition for 11GW of offshore wind by 2030 would represent "approximately 10% of the EU ambition".

But the country's share of its target, combined with the EU target, would mean a figure of closer to 9% for Scotland.

In discussions about the new figures, obtained by under Freedom of Information, officials advised the energy secretary on 15 September to write to parliament's energy committee "to advise parliament on the updated suite of metrics".

They go on to say "no proactive communications are recommended" but that officials will prepare "reactive lines" if there are media queries regarding the new statistics.

An official in Mr Gray's office wrote on 19 September that the minister was "not sure we need to draw further attention to the issue with a letter to committee unless we committed to publicise our update".

Another official then clarified that ministers had committed to updating MSPs.

For over a decade Scottish government ministers were fond of deploying the statistic that Scotland had 25% of Europe's offshore energy potential.

But around a year ago that ministers conceded that figure was "out of date." There were pledges to come up with a new number. That now appears to have happened.

Though it would have been easy to miss. In fact, it appears to have gone unnoticed for weeks. It was deep within a tranche of statistics sent to a Holyrood Committee.

This does indeed qualify as updating parliament, which is what ministers had promised to do. Though many MSPs will think it would have been more appropriate to clearly publicise the new figure.

Scotland may well still have a very bright future when it comes to offshore energy. But, given how quietly ministers have provided this update, it suggests they're not over the moon about this downgrade.

Scottish Conservative MSP Liam Kerr said: "Ministers must be open and honest about giving accurate figures - secrecy and cover-up does the renewables sector no favours.

"This is yet another example of a government that thinks it can get away with anything.

"It has shown time and again a contempt for transparency and accountability, and this sorry saga sums that up perfectly."

The Scottish government also pledged to update other bodies once a new figure was arrived at.

In March, Michael Matheson - who was Scotland's energy secretary at the time - told Westminster's Scottish Affairs Committee that he would provide them with an updated figure "upon completion of our work".

Mr Matheson also appeared to have committed to updating Holyrood's presiding officer when a new figure had been calculated.

Neither has been updated with the new statistics, though the Scottish government plans to do so in due course.

The government said it had completed work to provide new metrics on renewable energy potential, fulfilling a previous undertaking to Holyrood.

A spokesperson said: "These figures make clear Scotland has more than doubled its renewable electricity generation over the last decade, including possessing approximately 7% of Europe's installed offshore wind capacity.

"On 15 November last year Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity Minister Lorna Slater informed parliament that although Scottish ministers understood the previous statistic to be accurate, it had come to their attention that it was not and she undertook to update Parliament when new analysis was complete, which has been done.

"The Energy Secretary will write to update the presiding officer and the Scottish Affairs Committee in due course."