Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the (a) viability and (b) efficacy of increasing the proportion of tidal energy in the UK’s energy mix; and if he will make a statement.
My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State meets regularly with his cross-departmental counterparts to discuss key national priorities. The Government has committed over £175m in innovation funding to the marine energy sector, as well as a £20m annual budget for the procurement of tidal stream energy via the ongoing Contracts for Difference fourth allocation round, and it is for tidal power developers now to demonstrate the cost efficiency and proof of scalability that is required from the UK's sources of low carbon generation. The Secretary of State has no plans to make a specific statement at this time.