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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support businesses to switch to renewable energy sources for their power supply.

The Government is working with stakeholders to drive the ambitious action needed from UK businesses to help tackle climate change and reduce their impact on the environment.

Significant financial savings are available to businesses taking steps to improve their energy efficiency and decarbonise to achieve Net Zero. We are working to encourage as many UK businesses to pledge to join the Race to Zero campaign and set climate targets. The UK’s Net Zero Business Champion, my Hon. Friend the Member for Arundel and South Downs, will also be launching a small and micro business campaign ahead of COP26, which is aimed at mass mobilising local businesses and getting as many as possible to sign up to the Race to Zero via a new UK landing page on the SME Climate Hub.

Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting Regulations (SECR) came into force on 1 April 2019 and have been introduced to simplify requirements for businesses to report on their energy use and carbon emissions. This provides greater levels of transparency, helping to stimulate demand for low carbon energy supplies.

We are supporting small-scale renewable electricity through the Smart Export Guarantee scheme (SEG). The SEG provides small-scale renewable generators the right to be paid for the excess energy they export to the grid.

The Clean Heat Grant (CHG) will be targeted at households and small non-domestic buildings, to enable the installation of heat pumps and, in limited circumstances, biomass, to provide space and water heating.

The Green Gas Support Scheme (GGSS) will follow on from support for biomethane under the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive, which is due to close to new applicants on 31 March 2021. The GGSS will provide tariff support for biomethane produced via anaerobic digestion. It will launch in autumn 2021 and will be open to applicants for four years.