5. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to expand community-owned energy. (S6O-02264)

We want to realise as many opportunities as possible for community energy and lasting benefits for communities from the transition to net zero.

Scotland has made good progress against its 2GW community and local energy target, and we continue to invest in our community and renewable energy scheme—CARES—which has, to date, provided more than £60 million in funding for communities and has supported shared ownership opportunities.

We have recently commissioned research to explore how we maximise the contribution of community energy to a just transition. That will inform future policy development and the support that is provided through CARES.

The Government’s “Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan” has a target of 2GW of community-owned energy generation by 2030, as the minister has mentioned, but a clear route map and the actions to deliver on that target are missing.

The Scottish Co-operative Party has set out 11 recommendations to double community energy from creating a new ring-fenced Scottish National Investment Bank fund that includes quotas for community energy when it comes to local authorities bulk buying energy. What new measures does the Government plan to take? Will the minister give careful consideration to the Co-operative Party’s proposals in the Government’s final energy strategy and just transition plan?

Colin Smyth could almost have been a fly on the wall in the meeting that the cabinet secretary and I have just been to with the onshore wind strategic leadership group, as that issue came up for discussion. We discussed how, through CARES, we can provide more support—particularly legal and financial support—to communities and build on the learning from other communities that have involved themselves in community energy projects in order to get more communities invested in those. That is one of the ways in which we must share learning, because communities are doing that work voluntarily and we need to give them as much support as possible.

The issue that the member raises is very much a live discussion. In fact, the discussion is probably still going on—we had to leave the meeting to answer questions here today. Our partners in that group will be discussing that issue, and we will report back on its recommendations.

Recently, the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly Committee C—the committee that deals with energy—which I am a member of, visited Penpont micro-hydro scheme as part of our current energy inquiry. The scheme provides community energy to the local area and is a great example of how community-owned energy works. Does the minister agree that we must see more schemes like that rolled out? Will she agree to visit Penpont, to meet the development trust that secured the project?

I thank Emma Harper for that intervention—and for her invitation, in particular. I was going to say that I would like to visit the project.

To return to my response to Colin Smyth, this is about learning from other communities that have been through the process and about how we can build on the support that is given and make it streamlined, better and more supportive for communities that are yet to make that investment.