Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the average capacity factor was for the fixed bottom offshore windfarm fleet in each of the last five years; what the average capacity factor was for fixed bottom offshore windfarms that were commissioned between 2017 and 2020; and if he will make an estimate of the capacity factor of windfarms due to be commissioned in 2025.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department publishes historic capacity factors (also known as load factors) for offshore wind generation. These can be found in ‘Digest of UK Energy Statistics: Chapter 6.3’ - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/renewable-sources-of-energy-chapter-6-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes
Year | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
Offshore Wind Load Factor (%) | 39.9 | 40.4 | 45.7 | 37.4 | 40.7 |
The Department publishes estimates for future offshore wind load factors for given commissioning years in Annex A of ‘Electricity Generation Costs Report 2023’ -https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-generation-costs-2023
Year | 2025 | 2030 | 2035 | 2040 |
Fixed Bottom Offshore Wind Load Factor (%) | 61 | 65 | 69 | 69 |
The main reason we expect load factors to be higher for new wind farms commissioning in 2025 compared to the existing fleet is due to the increased turbine size and improved technology of newer turbines.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the evidential basis is for the (a) assumptions on renewables costs, (b) assumptions on capacity factors and (c) other assumptions in the technical annex to the Electricity Generation Costs 2023 report.
Answered by Graham Stuart
DESNZ regularly reviews its evidence base and commissions research to update cost and technical assumptions where necessary. The costs, capacity factors, and other assumptions presented in Annex A of the Generation Costs Report 2023, are primarily based on the externally commissioned research supplemented by internal evidence as appropriate. These assumptions are clearly described and referenced in the reports. The Introduction page to the 2023 report includes changes in assumptions from the previous report.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department has made an estimate of the cost of climate change to the UK economy in 2050.
Answered by Graham Stuart
As the OBR noted in its July 2021 Fiscal Risks Report, “the costs of failing to get climate change under control would be much larger than those of bringing emissions down to net zero”. The OBR’s unmitigated warming scenario showed debt spiralling up to over 130 per cent of UK GDP by 2050 and around 290 per cent by the end of the century as a result of the cost of adapting to an ever hotter climate.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to his Department's publication Electricity Generation Costs 2023, updated in November 2023, what the evidential basis is for the assumption that windfarms commissioned in 2025 will (a) not experience any decline in output over their lifetimes and (b) have an average output of 61% of capacity.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department’s Generation Costs Report 2023 is regularly updated based on externally reviewed evidence; these external reports are also published containing detailed description of underlying assumptions.
The 61% net load factor assumed for offshore wind plants commissioning in 2025 is derived from DESNZ modelling of wind turbine load factors. This calculation combines a theoretical turbine power curve (power output as a function of wind speed, modelled using turbine technology parameters including rotor swept area and hub height) with historic site-specific Virtual Met Mast (VMM) hourly wind speed data sourced from the UK Met Office.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Electricity Generation Costs 2023, updated in November 2023, what the evidential basis is for the estimate that the cost for offshore windfarm commissioning in 2025 will be £44/MWh.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department’s Generation Costs Report 2023 is regularly updated based on externally reviewed evidence. These external reports are also published in the Energy Generation Cost Projections collection on GOV.UK.
The 44 £/MWh is based on cost and technical assumptions from an externally reviewed evidence base and internal modelling. These are shown in the technical annex to the report.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, which offshore windfarms in the Contracts for Difference scheme have been granted a postponement of the sale of their offshore transmission owner assets; and how long each such postponement is.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has granted time-limited exemptions for offshore wind farms in the Contracts for Difference scheme to sell their transmission assets. The exemptions were decided on a case-by-case basis and were subject to public consultation. They are as follows:
- Walney Extension was granted a nine-month exemption to June 2020;
- Hornsea 1 was granted a six-month exemption to July 2021;
- Beatrice was granted a 12-month exemption to October 2021;
- East Anglia One was granted two exemptions of three and 10 months to April 2023;
- Triton Knoll was granted a 9-month exemption to July 2023; and
- Moray East was granted a 6-month exemption to March 2024.
Asked by: Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of the UK's energy output that will be produced by fossil fuels by 2050; and whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of Exxon Mobil's paper entitled Global EnergyOutlook 2023.
Answered by Graham Stuart
When the UK has reached net zero in 2050, around a quarter of the UK's energy needs will come from oil and gas. This figure is calculated using data published by the Climate Change Committee in its Sixth Carbon Budget advice. By 2050 oil use will become increasingly concentrated in aviation and gas will be used with carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) to generate electricity and hydrogen. Global outlooks also point to the need for continued, but declining, oil and gas use, highlighting the importance of CCUS.