The Scottish First Minister spoke candidly about her plans and her dreams in an event at the Edinburgh Fringe festival.
She also discussed post-independence energy prices and trade with the rest of the UK as she opened up on the subject after the Scottish Government referred its referendum plans to the Supreme Court.
Ms Sturgeon finds herself in a dispute with the UK Government over the jurisdiction of the legislation.
But she remains adamant in her confidence that Scots will get behind her bid to break up the Union.
Nicola Sturgeon speaking at the Edinburgh Fringe event
Jane Barlow
Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak will have to deal with Nicola Sturgeon if they take over as PM
PA
During the Fringe show on Wednesday, Ms Sturgeon was confronted with the latest polling, which suggests a Yes vote is unlikely to have a “massive majority”.
Ms Sturgeon was asked how she would react if a future prime minister said they would allow an independence vote but attached a 60 percent threshold for the constitutional change to take place.
She responded: “The international norms about referendums is that it’s about majorities.
“That’s basically how a Scottish referendum should be conducted as well.
“What I’m about to say will be put to the test.
“When Scotland comes to make this choice again, I don’t think it will be narrow.
“I think Scotland will vote to be independent and I think it will do so by quite a comfortable margin.”
Discussing energy prices, Ms Sturgeon said the No campaign had warned in 2014 that bills would go up in the event of a Yes vote.
She said: “We’re paying a massive price right now for not being independent.
“Independence is not a guarantee of sunny uplands for Scotland, but it puts control of our future and the decisions that shape our future into our own hands.”
LBC's Iain Dale then asked: “Are you seriously saying that energy prices would be cheaper if Scotland was independent?”
Ms Sturgeon replied: “That’s not the point I’m making, that’s not the argument I was making.
“We could go into a debate about Scotland, the renewable energy capital of Europe…”
The First Minister was also asked about her Government’s plans for how trade would operate across the border with the rest of the UK following independence.
She said: “My argument incidentally is not that these practical issues won’t exist, it is that we will be able to deal with them with proper planning.
“If we do the proper planning, we will be able to deal with these issues in a way that doesn’t impede trade.”
She pointed to the border between Norway and Sweden as an example of how such arrangements could be managed.
