Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the removal of eligibility for Renewables Obligations Certificates for onshore wind on businesses which are considering developing wind farms.

The Government was elected with a commitment to end subsidies for new onshore wind projects. Onshore wind has made a valuable contribution to the UK energy mix in recent years but has now reached the point where there is enough capacity in the pipeline for the UK to meet its 2020 renewable commitments. Having proposed early closure of the RO to onshore wind, we conducted an engagement exercise to understand better the views of stakeholders on the proposal. To protect investor confidence a grace period was proposed in June 2015, and we subsequently amended this in response to stakeholder feedback over the summer, for example to take account of a possible investment hiatus whilst the measures pass through Parliament. We consider this will strike the right balance between consumer and industry interests.

An impact Assessment was published whilst the Bill was in the House of Lords that set out the potential impacts of our proposals. This can be viewed online at:

http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-007F.pdf