Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her policy is on the future of the Renewables Obligation Scheme.

The Renewables Obligation (RO) has been the main financial mechanism since 2002 for incentivising deployment of large-scale renewable electricity generation in the UK. It has succeeded in increasing amounts of renewable capacity from 3.1GW in 2002 to 24.2 GW in 2014, and increasing the level of renewable electricity in the UK from 1.8% in 2002 to 19.2% in 2014 [1].

The RO closes to new capacity on 31 March 2017 as we transition to the Contract for Difference (CfD) regime which is capable of providing support for low-carbon generation in a more cost-effective way. However, to drive forward delivery of our manifesto pledge to end new subsidies for onshore wind, we announced on 18 June plans to introduce primary legislation to close the RO to new onshore wind projects from 1st April 2016 – a year earlier than planned. In order to control costs, we also closed the RO to solar capacity of 5MW and over in April this year.

[1]Figures for 2014 are provisional. Source ‘Energy Trends’ (March 2015).