Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the context of Scottish devolution, deep geothermal heat is considered a form of renewable energy and therefore devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

Section D1 of Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998 reserves the generation, transmission, distribution and supply of electricity. It makes no specific mention of geothermal energy. Since geothermal energy may be used directly for the production of heat and/or electricity, the devolution analysis for geothermal energy is split. Geothermal energy for the purposes of heat, including supplying district heating networks, is a devolved matter; where geothermal energy is utilised for electricity generation, it is a reserved matter (which is consistent with the reserved status of other renewable electricity-generating technologies).