Oral Answers to Questions

Kevin Hollinrake Excerpts

Tuesday 20th November 2018 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

1. What his Department's policy is on rooftop solar.

[Daniel Kawczynski (Shrewsbury and Atcham) (Con)]

11. What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing remuneration at a fair market rate for self-generators of solar power putting surplus energy on the networks.

[The Minister for Energy and Clean Growth (Claire Perry)]

The Government and my Department remain enthusiastic about the role of solar generation and its role in decarbonisng power in the UK. However, as the market matures and installation is now possible without Government subsidy, we believe that it is the right time to close the feed-in tariff scheme. We already have 13 GW of solar capacity supported under current schemes. Indeed, at one point in May this year, solar provided more power generation than any other source.

[Kevin Hollinrake]

Rooftop solar is set to lose support from the feed-in tariff and the export tariff, which help to pay for clean power to the grid. Does my right hon. Friend agree that householders should expect some form of payment rather than simply subsidising large energy companies?

[Claire Perry]

My hon. Friend will know that the FIT scheme has been a huge success, supporting over 800,000 installations nationally, including almost 3,000 in his constituency. It has cost consumers over £4.5 billion to date and is scheduled to cost more than £2 billion a year for at least the next decade. It is therefore right that we consider a new scheme, as the cost has fallen. However, I do completely agree that solar power should not be provided to the grid for free, and that is why I will shortly be announcing the next steps for small-scale renewables.