Wind Power

(asked on 12th December 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to support investment in the onshore wind industry; and what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of that sector to the UK's energy needs.


This question was answered on 18th December 2017

Over 12 GW of installed onshore wind capacity was operational in the UK at the end of the second quarter of 2017. This investment was supported by schemes such as the Renewables Obligation (RO), which are funded by bill payers.

Further onshore wind farms are expected to deploy up to March 2019 with support from the RO, utilising grace periods provided by the Energy Act 2016 and the Renewables Obligation Closure Order (Northern Ireland) 2016 and the Renewables Obligation Closure (No.2) Order (Northern Ireland) 2016. In addition, around 690MW of onshore wind capacity has been contracted to deploy under the Contracts for Difference (CFD) regime by 2019, which was established to replace the RO.

The Government is seeking state aid approval to classify remote island wind as a separate technology in group 2 of the CFD to allow wind projects on these islands to compete against other less established technologies in the future.

Alongside the November Budget this year, HM Treasury published the Control for Low Carbon Levies, which provides clarity to industry out to 2025 about future support for low carbon electricity.

Estimated Gigawatts of capacity for all technology groups, including onshore wind, supported under the Control up to March 2025 are set out in Table 1.B of the publication that accompanied the Budget.[1]

[1] Available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/660986/Control_for_Low_Carbon_Levies_web.pdf

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