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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his Department's BEIS Electricity Generation Costs (2020) published on 24 August 2020, if he will publish the empirical evidence, other than bid prices, underlying the estimate of (a) falling capital and (b) operational costs in the wind sector, (i) offshore and (ii) onshore in that report.

The estimates of (a) falling capital and (b) operational costs for (i) onshore and (ii) offshore wind generation are informed by a variety of internal and external evidence sources. These include published estimates from Arup (2016)^[1] and DNV GL (2019)^[2] as well as internal estimates informed by stakeholders and external commentators, such as Bloomberg^[3], Baringa^[4], Aurora^[5], and others. These assumptions have also undergone an independent peer-review by Professor Derek Bunn (2020)^[6], and more detail on specific assumptions can be found in this publication.

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[1] ‘Arup (2016): Review of Renewable Electricity Generation Cost and Technical Assumptions’ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/arup-2016-review-of-renewable-electricity-generation-cost-and-technical-assumptions

[2] ‘Potential to improve load factor of offshore wind farms in the UK to 2035’ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/potential-to-improve-load-factor-of-offshore-wind-farms-in-the-uk-to-2035

[3] https://about.bnef.com/new-energy-outlook/

[4] “An analysis of the potential outcome of a further ‘Pot 1’ CfD auction in GB”, https://www.baringa.com/getmedia/99d7aa0f-5333-47ef-b7a8-1ca3b3c10644/Baringa Scottish-Renewables UK-Pot-1-CfD-scenario April-2017 Report FINA/

[5] www.auroraer.com

[6] ‘Peer review of 2019 electricity generation cost updates’ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/peer-review-of-2019-electricity-generation-cost-updates