Asked by: Gillian Keegan (Conservative - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans she has in place to develop UK offshore wind generation capacity that meets net zero emissions targets and protects internationally important marine species and habitats.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
We acknowledge the role of offshore wind in achieving the net zero target. We have provided more support for offshore wind than any other country in the world, helping us to reach record levels of renewable electricity generation in 2019. The UK accounts for around one third of world’s offshore wind capacity and has the world’s largest offshore wind market with 9.8GW of installed capacity which is expected to rise to 14GW by 2023 and 19.5GW by 2026.
We know that our European neighbours will also be deploying more offshore wind in shared sea spaces such as the North Sea. This continued pace of deployment drives the need to better understand the cumulative impacts. We are collaboratively working with the sector and wider stakeholders to address strategic deployment issues including cumulative environmental impacts on marine species and habitats.
Asked by: Gillian Keegan (Conservative - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department is taking to ensure (a) competitive and (b) fair market tariffs are available under the Smart Export Guarantee.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The level of remuneration under Smart Export Guarantee tariffs will be determined by suppliers, in line with the aim of moving away from direct subsidy to cost reflective pricing and competitive market-based solutions.
The Government have asked Ofgem to report annually on the provisions made by suppliers for smaller scale exporters, including the range, nature and uptake of Smart Export Guarantee tariffs.
The Government will actively monitor the development of this market and will consider reviewing these tariff setting arrangements, if it becomes clear that small generators are not able to access a competitive range of export tariff options.
Asked by: Gillian Keegan (Conservative - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress has been made on developing large-scale electricity storage solutions.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
As of 2018 there was around four gigawatts of storage on the system in Great Britain, and three gigawatts of this was from pumped hydro (National Grid Future Energy Scenarios, 2019).
Government is investing to support further development of large-scale electricity storage solutions. In January this year Government launched the ‘Storage-at-Scale’ competition which commits up to £20 million to support the development of innovative, replicable solutions that could provide an alternative to conventional commercial large-scale energy storage technologies.
Asked by: Gillian Keegan (Conservative - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what incentives have been put in place to support businesses in developing and implementing sustainable business practices.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
There is significant potential for UK businesses of all types and sizes to reduce environmental impacts, including carbon emissions, and to save money by moving to more sustainable practices. Change is needed to achieve the Government’s commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and delivery of the targets of the 25-Year Environment Plan. The Government has rolled out numerous incentives to support businesses in increasing energy efficiency and reducing carbon, while ensuring the availability of affordable energy. Some of these include: