 I asked those leaving the chamber and indeed the public gallery to do so as quickly and as quietly as possible. Is the Parliament still in session? The next item of business is a member's business debate on motion 6229, in the name of Paul MacLennan, on the economic impact of Scotland's renewable energy sector 2022 update. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put. As ever I'd invite members wishing to participate to press the request-to-speak buttons now or as soon as possible, and I call on Paul MacLennan to open the debate for around seven minutes, Mr MacLennan. I'm delighted to be leading this member's debate on the economic impact of Scotland's renewable energy sector. I want to talk about the report in more detail later, but I want to lead on the work on going in East Llewyn at the moment. I set up the East Llewyn energy forum a few months after being elected, recognised the sustainable job opportunities that East Llewyn has already and will continue to grow. The forum has four clear work streams, one on supply, skills, community benefits and logistics. East Llewyn has existing grid connections at Cwcennsy for the Inch Cape wind farm, while it has one gigawatt potential. Sea Green, with its 1.5 gigawatt potential, will also be brought on shore at Cwcennsy. Berwick Bank, with its four gigawatt potential, will have its good connection at Tornes. That is six to seven gigawatts being brought on shore in East Llewyn alone. Narnagwia Wind Farm, with its 450 megawatt capacity, has its substation in Dunbar and its good connection in Tornes, in my constituency. I met with the NNG yesterday. The project currently has more than 100 direct jobs based on the rent and office, with far more throughout the supply chain. In addition, there will be 50 direct new jobs in the future operations and maintenance space in Imouth just south of East Llewyn, on land owned by Imouth Harbour Trust, which will exist for the full 25 years of the wind farm. That is due to be officially opened in January 2023. EDF renewables and ESB partners are committed to using Scottish suppliers for NNG and will have a track record of doing this already. Alongside NNGs tier 1 contractors, business can be confident that Scottish supply chain can play a big part in supporting delivery of the project. NNGs are working closely with tier 1's preferred suppliers to encourage them to use Scottish suppliers for tier 2 and below work packages. Other projects in East Llewyn include the Eastern Link project, a £1.3 billion project jointly managed by SP energy networks in the national grid electricity transmission. The project links from Dunbar to Hawthorne Pit in County Durham. If I had also renewables, again in East Llewyn we will be repowering and extending its crystal rig wind farm. Community wind power and its second goal wind farms also contribute to the local community. Just in the last few weeks, I have agreed a £1 million fuel poverty fund launching on 1 December, helping the most need in East Llewyn. Add in Sunamp, a world-leading thermal storage company, recently awarded £10 million by the Scottish National Investment Bank. I have also had further discussions about hydrogen, solar and other possibilities around Scotland, where East Llewyn can assist some of those successful farmers. Farmworks will also require innovative solutions to its net zero commitment. We can see in the constituency the benefit that renewable power is already having, and we will continue to have and the potential that it has. I want to move on to the report itself, the economic impact of Scotland's renewable energy sector. I have time, if that is okay. Fergus Ewing, I thank you for the work that you are doing in leading the development of renewable energy in the cross-party group. Do you agree that, in order to achieve the maximum potential of renewable energy in Scotland, a focus must be given to speed up the processes that are required for obtaining permissions, licences and consents, not only for development on and off shore, but also for grid connections? Because, without those permissions, licences, consents and agreements, the projects themselves can often be delayed for a long, long time, which threatens the good work that Mr McClennan is advocating. Paul McClennan, I give you time back. I agree with the member that issue that I talked about in the local government committee, talking about NPA4 and the introduction of NPA4 and the importance of resources in the big marine Scotland in particular. It is a vitally important part of doing that. Just coming back to the report, the report presents estimates of the economic impact of Scotland's renewable energy industry. One of the key things that has been mentioned in the report is that it is about trying to lose more reliable data. I will ask the minister to pick that up. I know that that has been picked up through the official national statistics. Scotland's renewable energy industry and its supply chain supported more than 27,000 full-time equivalent jobs and generated £5.6 billion of output in 2025, £0.6 billion. The latest available figures show that onshore wind supported the most employment across the sector, with 10,128 full-time equivalent roles, followed by offshore with six, seven, three, five roles in hydro power, four, three, nine, five. Including spillover impacts and that economic activity stimulated across the wider economy, onshore wind had the largest output, generating nearly £2.5 billion, with offshore wind and hydro power supporting more than £1.1 billion of output. To demonstrate how Scotland's renewable energy industry has grown, the UK and Scottish Government are progress towards cleaner, cheaper and more resilient energy system. Scottish Newables have urged the UK Government and Scottish Government to develop stronger data on their renewable energy sector. What are the key next steps to grow Scotland's renewable energy sector economy? Scottish Newables, in a briefing, recommends that the fallen steps need to ensure continued growth in jobs and economic output for their renewable sector. We need to continue and establish a low-carbon industrial strategy to drive forward newables-led investment and a just transition for Scottish clean energy suppliers and manufacturers. Scotland needs to develop the existing newables industrial strategy and the supply chain needs to increase the required capacity to deliver the skills in manufacturing to service all our renewable energy projects. The delivery of such a strategy will provide clear direction for the newables industry and supply chain, ensuring that our net zero ambitions are achieved whilst delivering fresh economic opportunities and new jobs. Just coming back to the point that the member mentioned before, we need to complete the NPF4 planning reforms, ensuring that our net zero driven planning system is focused on tackling the climate emergency through deployment of renewable energy. Scottish renewables, where at the NPF4 meeting on Tuesday, are warmly welcomed as they have seen a major step towards achieving a net zero driven planning system. Adopting the revised NPF4 will also help to drive new investment, deliver our net zero ambitions and help to achieve energy security for Scotland. The report also states that we need a rural clean heat fund to ignite the transformation of renewable heating solutions for Scotland's rural island and rural communities. A third of East Lothian is in rural settings. With readily deployable solutions available, the Government must move at pace to introduce clean heat technologies into rural communities, ensuring that the expertise of trade people is developed and sustained. That is before we even talk about retrofin. Doing so will allow us to phase out high carbon heating across Scotland's countryside, delivering new investment, tackling fuel poverty and supporting the net zero islands and rural communities. I want to talk about our ports. We need to enhance the role that Scottish ports play in building a low-carbon economy through a net zero ports and infrastructure programme. I have had the pleasure of meeting both Cromarty Firth and Aberdeen ports and to see the fantastic work that is being carried out at the moment. All ports must be supported to build the essential supply chain and the manufacturing base for offshore renewables. We need to complete an onshore wind sector, deal with the industry to deliver 12 gigawatts of additional onshore wind. Scotland needs by 2030 to achieve net zero. Onshore wind is a tried-tested technology that can provide low-cost power, helping to keep consumer bills down and support the competitiveness of our renewable energy industry. We need to support the immediate growth of Scottish renewable energy suppliers by working with them near-term, net zero projects to assist in the success of local supply chain companies. With a short-term onshore offshore wind pipeline of 6.9 gigawatts and a potential of more than 10 gigawatts of onshore wind, the existing pipeline of renewable energy projects needs to be delivered is extensive. We need to prepare for the future project pipeline increase in the economic opportunities of projects and increased demand for low-carbon technologies, whereas boosting green jobs and skills. In conclusion, let's look ahead to a bright future for our renewable sector, creating local jobs, building supply chains and moving Scotland to net zero. We now move to the open debate. I call first Graham Simpson, to be followed by Stephanie Callaghan for around four minutes. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I congratulate Paul MacLennan on securing this debate and bringing the issue to the chamber? The Scottish Renewables and Fraser Allander Institute's report certainly presents our renewable energy sector in a positive light. The sector and its supply chain generates £2.5 billion in GVA, £5.6 billion of economic growth and supports more than 27,000 jobs. 16,000 of those jobs come from our onshore and offshore wind sector. More must be done to extend investment and job creation outside of wind. We must ensure that Scotland has a wide portfolio in the renewable sector, because if we continue to put all our renewable eggs in one basket, we will never be fully energy secure. With onshore wind alone generating £2.5 billion, Scotland's existing wind energy investments should be used to drive investment in other renewable technologies. Industry experts are in agreement. Jason Higgs, the energy transition leader for PWC, said that Scotland is facing a continuous rise in the demand for electricity, which must be met with a huge increase in low-carbon energy generation, new ways of working and a more efficient whole system approach. There are, for example, great opportunities in solar. Scotland's solar industry is now fully subsidy free, with installation companies thriving. Solar energy Scotland has said that if the Scottish Government was to set a 2030 deployment ambition of 4 to 6 gigawatts of solar energy capacity, the industry could support nearly 9,000 jobs. Will Mr Simpson give way in that place? Yes, I will, because I noticed a motion from Fergus Ewing on this very subject earlier on. I am most grateful to Mr Simpson, and I agree with his remarks on solar. There was a cross-party support for motion that I lodged recently on this topic and the ambition that he described. Would he agree that there is some low-hanging fruit that can be achieved quite early on? For example, the widespread application of solar panels to public buildings, which would reduce the cost of electricity to the public sector, thereby achieving massive savings, as well as contributing to our net-zero targets. Yes, I completely agree with that. That is an excellent point to make. I have also had discussions with people like Glasgow airport, who want to have quite a big solar farm, but they are getting frustrations with the planning system mentioned by Paul McLennan. We need to unblock things there. I also want to say something about hydrogen. Hydrogen would also benefit from additional investment and ambition. Many of the skill requirements for the hydrogen industry align with existing skills in our oil and gas industry. With funding for projects such as the £9.4 million hydrogen storage facility in Glasgow, groundbreaking schemes could easily be established across the country. Hydrogen is part of the future. I would like to say something about the importance of education and skills in renewables. Organisations such as Skills Development Scotland have raised concerns that Labour force demand within the industry will not be met due to market uncertainty. Recruitment and investment in graduates continues to be stagnant. Across the UK we have a green energy skills gap of 200,000 people, but that cannot be solved by energy companies on their own. The Government must take steps to ensure that young people have the skills for those jobs. My final point would be to mention the small and medium-sized enterprises, Deputy Presiding Officer. Much of the revenue generated by the renewable sector comes from large firms, but a recent report from the Royal Bank of Scotland details a £22 billion economy boost by 2030. If we meet our net zero targets, SMEs could cater for 53 per cent of that, but the number working in renewables delivering infrastructure would have to be more than double for that to be achieved. Lots of opportunities in the sector and I think that is something that we can all get behind. I now call Stephanie Callaghan to be followed by Colin Smyth for around four minutes. Thank you for leading today's debate. Scotland recognises the emergency phase in our climate with an ambitious net zero target, and our transition to a clean energy system is well under way. My colleagues have already mentioned the Fraser of a Lander report and it highlights that the economic impact of Scotland's renewable energy industry is not limited to the economic activity of the sector by the extent beyond that. Renewable projects create jobs for people throughout the supply chain, from research and design to the maintenance and development of energy storage systems, which all have an awkward impact on local economies, from one constituency in Bellshill to Orkney and right across Scotland. While the renewable sector is flourishing, we create a thinking and ambitious policymaking, we can support further growth across all renewable energy sectors, creating massive opportunities for new industries, jobs, training and skills. I would like to focus on the Scottish solar industry. Solar is the most democratised form of energy. It goes on the rooftops of homes and businesses and undoubtedly has strong potential in terms of reducing fuel poverty with targeted deployment. I would argue that solar is Scotland's most underutilised renewable source, despite being the cheapest energy source available to Scottish people at a time of rapidly rising costs. The untapped potential of Scottish solar means that there is a unique opportunity for major growth. We need to look at Denmark, for example, to see the brightness of the opportunity. Although it has been a similar latitude to Scotland, Danish solar generation contributes nearly five times as much generation on a percentage basis to the Danish electricity mix as Scottish solar does to Scottish electricity. To capitalise on the sunny prospectus that solar can provide Scotland, like other nations, Scotland needs to be bolder. That includes like other nations, too, setting a target for solar energy generation. Analysis of UK, US and EU employment data shows that if the Scottish Government sets a 2030 deployment ambition of 46 gigawatts of solar energy capacity, the industry could support 9,000 new jobs. I look forward to the cabinet secretary's update on Scotland's solar vision within the energy strategy and just transition plan, which is due later this year. I hope that that strategy will include a clearly defined gigawatt target in line with other countries' ambitious targets, as called for in the Solar Energy Scotland's paper, Scotland's fair share. Although setting gigawatt targets is essential to provide industry confidence and drive investment, just as importantly, we must also transform ourselves into a green skills powerhouse, as others have mentioned, and address our current and future skills gaps. Solar Energy Scotland vice chair Josh King states, The potential for solar in Scotland is huge, but a clear ambition and stable policy are vital to capitalise on the opportunity. During a recent meeting with Solar Business, MTech Energy and my own constituency, they reiterated the ever-increasing demand for green skills in Scotland's solar industry. They told me that culturally, we still place too much focus on university degrees, and there remains a societal barrier to viewing apprenticeships as equal. There is a continued need for the industry to partner with secondary, higher and tertiary education institutions to think creatively about routes into renewable energy. The Edinburgh Climate Change Institute recommends splitting green skills into three categories—new and emerging jobs, existing jobs requiring enhanced skills, and existing jobs that are now more in demand. I really do applaud that definition, as it is only when we develop policies and initiatives to target each unique category and attract talent for the present and the future that we can unleash the economic potential of our renewable sector. The transformation of how we power our society set to accelerate over the coming years—I think that we all know that—and solar energy, as well as the renewable sector more broadly, will play a key role in supporting the Scottish Government in delivering its net zero targets, while helping to tackle fuel poverty and energy and security. In closing, Scotland can be rightly proud of our renewable sector. Our natural resources, our education and skills, and our creativity means that outlook is good. The foundations are strong and the potential is enormous. Thank you very much, Ms Callaghan. I now call Colin Smyth to be followed by Michelle Thomson again in around four minutes, Mr Smyth. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thank you to Paul McLean for the table of his motion. Particularly given how timely this debate is, another cop has just ended climate change is in the news, but once again our world leaders have failed to recognise that it's not some future crisis, it's here and it's now, and it will get worse the more their inaction continues with those who can least afford it being hit the hardest. But just as we need to act with more urgency internationally, we need to do more here at home too, in a way that delivers that just transition. At the very heart of that action needs to be a jobs-led drive for renewables. As we've heard already in the debate, the Scottish Renewables report with the Fraser of Allander Institute highlights the progress to date. An estimated 27,000 full-time equivalent jobs contributing over £5.6 billion of output to the economy in 2020. The Scottish Government's low-carbon economic strategy in 2010 promised 130,000 jobs by 2020. We were told that we would be the Saudi Arabia of renewables. What do we do to make that happen? If we consider what are the sectors that can tackle Scotland's sluggish economic growth that could create that greener, fairer Scotland with good, secure jobs wherever people live in the country, all roads lead to renewables. Our net zero targets are not a barrier to economic growth, they are actually the path to it. But to achieve that, we do need to break down the barriers. Labour has consistently called for a proper industrial strategy focused on four missions, delivering clean power, harnessing data for public good, building a more caring and a more resilient economy. If you look at one of the last acts of the UK Government's industrial strategy council, it published a really informative report on the drive for coronavirus vaccines. It set out how industrial policy was absolutely instrumental in supporting the brilliance of our scientists to deliver those vaccines. The targeting investment in life sciences over many years, the strategic procurement and advanced purchase of the vaccine and the convening of power of the state to bring everyone together, public, private, voluntary partners to co-create and co-deliver that industrial policy. An industrial strategy involves priorities of what industries to focus on, so imagine if we brought the same industrial policy focus to renewables that was brought to Covid vaccines with clear targets, for example that target of 12 gigawatts of additional onshore wind by 2030 that Scottish renewables have called for in a four to six gigawatt target for solar capacity that Stephanie Callaghan highlighted, and a clear commitment, crucially, to investing suppliers to build capacity and capability, including our ports, as Paul McClellan highlighted, so those supply chain jobs actually come to Scottish firms. That's why Labour has consistently called for offshore wind not only to have proper conditionality when it comes to leasing our seabeds, but also ring-fencing all the funds that come from the recent Scotland leasing to be used in a renewables fund to invest in making our supply chains ready to deliver. Data is also a key part of any industrial strategy. I was struck by how the Fraser Vander Institute's report talked about the figures being estimates because we don't even define the renewable energy sector and national statistics, never mind collected data. How can you understand where skill shortages are if we don't have better, more open data on jobs? How do we ensure that economic growth is inclusive and benefits all of Scotland if we can't even tell how many renewable jobs there are in my South Scotland region because we don't collect that geographical data? There are many other barriers to break down ensuring that the positive words in NPF4 on renewables translates to delivery on the ground, whether that's the point used by Fergus Ewing about consenting at pace for offshore wind by the Crowning Estate or onshore wind by our under-resourced council planning departments. I need to ensure that we help to build capacity in our supply chains by setting out an energy route map with timelines for that steady stream of work that will give supply chain companies the confidence to invest. If we do that, the prize is great. We can learn from the mistakes of the past. We can fulfil the enormous potential of renewables, not only maximising the cutting emissions that we need to deliver to meet our climate targets, but also maximising the economic benefits so that we can deliver that genuine jobs-led, just transition that everybody wants to see. Thank you very much indeed, Mr Smith. I call Michelle Thomson to be followed by Mark Ruskell in around four minutes, Ms Thomson. I welcome the debate initiated by my colleague Paul MacLennan in response to the Fraser of Allander report on the economic impact of Scotland's renewable energy sector. I, too, have been concerned for some time about the weakness of data collection in relation to Scottish business and the economy. Therefore, I am glad to see the issue features in the report. I also acknowledge that, while there are reasons to be impressed regarding the progress made in Scotland, the 27,000 jobs and 5.6 billion of output already referenced, the data provides no grounds for complacency. There remains much to be done and I add my voice to the calls for more utilisation of solar energy amongst others. The recent analysis from landfall strategies has indicated the prospect for the renewable sector a huge and can eventually dwarf the current output. Indeed, the potential is there for the sector to be economically even more significant than the oil and gas sector. If policy development is effective, investments supported and appropriately focused and the necessary supply chains developed. It would only help if the Scottish Parliament had the comprehensive range of powers needed to address all the matters involved. Currently, fundamentals such as taxation policy, energy policy and the power to borrow to invest are located in Westminster. Imagine what could be done if all parties here agreed that the powers over Scotland's renewable energy future were vested here for the benefit of Scotland. With much still to be done, allow me to introduce an important area that has been mentioned here but which speaks to data definition collection requirements. In this context, I agree with the noble laureate Joseph Stieglitz, who wrote in 2019, that getting the measures right is crucially important. If we measure the wrong thing, we will do the wrong thing. If our measures tell us everything is fine when it really isn't, we will be complacent. If we are truly interested in impact, it's not good enough to simply extend what has been historically been gathered in other sectors and then do the same for the renewable sector. We need to develop and capture new metrics encouraging wellbeing. Also, as I have consistently argued for, we need impact data disaggregated by sex. I can see no reason why the creativity and dynamism of women should not feature strongly in the renewable sector. Capturing the right data will only be the start to ensure women are at the heart of both the just transition and the sector as it develops. Some have argued that part of the problem is that the renewable sector is seen as a market rather than a sector in its own right. Tragically, we have become reliant on data that is gathered for other sectors from construction to professional services to forestry to shipping, so we must therefore collect the right data to inform policymaking. I agree with a similar view that is expressed here today and from Scottish renewals. In closing, in data collection and ensuring women and wellbeing are at the heart of all policies, we have a joint mission ahead to which I look forward to contributing. I thank Paul McClann for giving us all the opportunity not just to celebrate the progress that we have made so far with renewables in Scotland but also to look at what is in store for the next chapter. The report that we are debating is a useful baseline. It captures the jobs and economic benefit that is delivered in Scotland today. In the years to come, we will look back at today's figures and see just how small they were in comparison to what will be achieved. I want to focus my contribution on the onshore wind sector and the need to not forget about onshore wind but to double down on its progress in the years ahead. Onshore wind continues to deliver the lion's share of the economic benefit of renewables in Scotland. It remains the lowest-cost renewable energy and dispersed across Scotland onshore wind farms continue to provide predictable supply at a time when electricity demand for heating and transport continues to rise. Year on year, the carbon content of our electricity generation is falling largely due to onshore wind and with that in turn falls the climate impact of every single electric vehicle and every heat pump. Step by step, turbine by turbine, we are decarbonising electricity largely with onshore wind almost without noticing. Meanwhile, wind farms continue to provide community financial benefits from shouting to the borders and with new projects there will be new opportunities for that benefit to spread wider and to grow in value. Outside of our national scenic areas, wind farms also provide the opportunity for investment in nature restoration, public access and economic diversification at scale in our uplands. Meanwhile, public support for onshore wind remains consistently high and grows locally once communities have had the experience of hosting turbines. After nearly three decades, we now have a flourishing ecosystem of Scottish-based developers, subcontractors and specialists who are ready to support the next stage of growth in onshore wind. The real challenge here will be to match that sector with an equally strong domestic supply chain for wind farm component manufacturing. The renewed commitment to onshore wind and the bute house agreement will help to provide that certainty to manufacturers and others that there is both a strong market and a supportive environment for investment in Scotland, a target of 12 gigawatts of additional onshore wind by 2030, backed up by planning reforms and a strong policy statement certainly is the start of a sector deal that will drive investment. Let's remind ourselves that this is an incredible sector. It has smashed every single energy target that has been set at Holyrood since devolution. It is ready, I think, to meet the hardest challenge that it has been set to date. That growth needs to take place at a scale that has never been seen before in Scotland. The pace of new development will need to speed up. We cannot afford to see wind farm projects languishing in the planning system for seven years, as has been the case recently. This is a climate emergency. Good wind farm proposals in the right places need fast track through a streamlined planning process. We no longer have time to wait. The planning system must allow those machines to fight climate change. However, it is not just new sites and new projects. Existing wind farms need to be repowered quickly with newer, more productive turbines. Repowering alone means another six to eight hundred megawatts every single year for the next 15 to 20 years. It is a huge mission. It will be our children working on these wind farms. Just as the hydra schemes from our grandparents' generations are still spinning and creating employment today, endless renewable technologies supporting enduring jobs for generations to come, that will be the renewable story told by future reports. We just need to focus and realise that vision. Thank you, Mr Russell. I now call on Richard Lockhead to respond to the debate minister for around seven minutes. I want to start by thanking Paul MacLennan for bringing forward this motion and also to all the members who have participated in the debate for their contributions. As others have said, the debate comes at the time when Scotland is tackling the twin issues of energy security and the cost of living crisis. Within that context, we are also pushing ahead at pace with our just transition to a net zero energy system and economy so that we can play our role in tackling climate change and also boost jobs and prosperity in Scotland. We are very lucky in Scotland. Again, as others have said, we have a rich renewables endowment, which means that we can not only generate enough cheap green electricity in the times ahead to power Scotland's economy and get away from those high prices that we are experiencing just now, but also export electricity to our neighbours. Supporting jobs here in Scotland and, as Paul MacLennan and his opening speech said, already supporting jobs in his constituency of East Lothian and the wider region. Also, that all contributes towards the decarbonisation ambition of our partners that we work with internationally and across these islands. The scale and pace of change are unprecedented and that offers really exciting opportunities to develop green jobs and a green supply chain. The report highlights that the deployment of renewable energy technologies is paramount in driving towards ending Scotland's contribution to climate change, whilst bringing considerable benefits to our economy. The report also shows the potential for the sector and how vast that is, both in terms of gross value added and for jobs. I am also grateful for the Scottish Renewables Forum Ltd for commissioning this important work, which helps to bolster the evidence base as we drive forward the just energy transition. The just energy transition is a key priority for the Scottish Government, and Scotland's natural resources mean that we are uniquely positioned to take advantage of the global shift to renewables through a just transition that delivers for people, places and communities in Scotland. We are taking steps to decarbonise the energy system, to maximise the benefits of the energy transition for communities across Scotland, while responding to those twin challenges of energy security and the cost of living crisis. I am absolutely clear that the energy transition must deliver for the people of Scotland. A key part of that is ensuring that the renewable sector and the broader supply chain that supports it grows in a way that secures high-quality, well-paid green jobs across communities in the country and supports energy affordability for people and businesses. So, as many members will be aware, we will soon consult on a draft energy strategy and just transition plan for energy that will go alongside that at the same time, that will set out and seek views on how we realise those aims and many of the aspirations expressed by members in the chamber during this debate. Scotland already has many of the skills needed to facilitate the energy sector's transition to net zero, and our national strategy for economic transformation recognises skills that are absolutely critical in terms of ambitions and that we are investing in the sector's transformation. We need access to an agile offshore energy workforce so that people can transition more easily between roles in the offshore energy sectors. We know that that will not be a one-way transition and people will be able to work flexibly across the sectors. That is why we recently have announced funding of £5 million to Apetal, the offshore training organisation, through the Just Transition Fund for a digital offshore energy skills passport, which empowers offshore workers to utilise their existing certification. That is a measure that many members in this chamber are calling for. We are also delivering a range of upskilling and retraining programmes, including the individual training accounts and the flexible workforce development fund. In 2021, we launched the Green Jobs Workforce Academy. We are also investing £75 million through the Energy Transition Fund to support jobs and provide regional growth, and we have a green jobs fund as well that will invest up to £100 million. Scotland, of course, is the huge initiative on the horizon. The knowledge and experience of our oil and gas sector in particular and its supply chain will be crucial for Scotland in developing floating offshore wind technologies. We know that Scotland is the world's largest commercial round for floating offshore wind. That will raise over £750 million in revenues for Scotland and deliver several billion pounds more in rental revenues when projects become operational. We already have a clear pipeline of projects throughout this decade, and there is going to be a significant pipeline of projects coming from the offshore wind leasing round. That is a huge economic opportunity for Scotland. We have had numerous meetings with the Scotland projects, and we know that we can welcome the collective commitment that is made to invest more than £28 billion in the Scottish supply chain across the 20 proposed Scotland projects that have secured lease options. We are seeing benefits already across the country and in areas such as East Lothian that Paul MacLennan represents. We have community wind farms there that are funding, for instance, the Bee Green Dunbar Energy Advice Centre, which supports residents of Dunbar with energy saving technologies and funding for eco-friendly community groups. I will quickly touch on a couple of areas that members mentioned. First, Stephanie Callaghan and others mentioned the exciting potential for solar energy. I want to assure members that the bute house agreement between the Scottish Green Party and the SNP Government mentions solar, if I recall properly, but it is going to have a much bigger renewed focus in the forthcoming draft energy strategy that will begin out for consultation. Hydrogen, of course, was also mentioned by many members as well. The growth of renewables and a hydrogen economy are very complementary. We need a strong renewable sector and domestic supply chain to support the development of Scotland's hydrogen economy. We think that that is massive opportunities not only for jobs here in Scotland but for Scotland's exports to other countries as a demand for hydrogen on European continent, in particular in response to the energy crisis and Putin's war in Ukraine. The consequences of that are leading to a lot more potential demand for hydrogen across those European countries. I should also, before closing, mention onshore winds. Mark Ruskell highlighted the importance of onshore wind as did other members. We have a draft onshore wind policy statement, which included a new ambition for an additional 8 to 12 gigawatts of onshore wind to be installed for a total of 20 gigawatts overall by 2030. That is a pretty substantial ambition. It follows a long consultation process. We are going to publish the final statement with a decision on the 2030 ambition soon, and we will ensure that the benefits flow to our communities and the Scottish supply chain. Again, we can see that there have been significant levels of community benefit across Scotland from onshore wind projects. We are mounting to tens of millions of pounds, and we want to make sure that that is increased in the years ahead in particular. In conclusion, I have outlined that we are going to publish our refreshed energy strategy for consultation alongside our first just transition plan, which will be for energy, and that will demonstrate how we will deliver for the people of Scotland supporting our transition to a net zero energy system. I thank again Paul McClellan for bringing this important and very timely topic to the chamber for debate today. Thank you very much indeed, minister. That concludes the debate, and I suspend this meeting of Parliament until 2.15.