Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Answer of 4 March 2014, Official report, columns 763-4, on the renewables obligation, when he intends to introduce price competitions for Contracts for Difference; and what assessment he has made of whether the economics of onshore wind will change once this new system is introduced.

The Government intends to move to auctioning of Contracts for Difference (CfDs) for at least those technologies classified as ‘established' (such as onshore wind) from the first allocation round in October 2014.

The Government Response to the consultation on our approach to competitive allocation of CfDs published on 13 May 2014, set out our view that there is some scope for further cost reduction in the onshore wind sector, and that the evidence from UK developers suggests that in the years to 2020, the most significant contributor to reduced costs in the UK is likely to be a constrained and competitive allocation framework under which only the lower-cost projects come forward.