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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding the Government has allocated to offshore wind in Scotland since 2010.

Offshore wind is supported under the Renewables Obligation (RO) and Contracts for Difference (CfD). The RO was available to all eligible generators^[1]. Since 2015 onwards, support has been awarded on a competitive basis using Contracts for Difference (CfD). The offshore wind capacity brought forward in Scottish waters through RO and CfD since 2010 is approximately 2.3 GW^[2].

The costs of these schemes are paid for through consumers’ energy bills and managed by Ofgem and the Low Carbon Contracts Company. From 2010 to 2017/18, the last financial year for which spend figures are available, there has been £355.6 million of spending under the RO on offshore wind in Scotland. No CfD payments were made in respect of offshore wind generation in Scotland during the same period.

Innovation has been key in bringing down the costs of offshore wind. The work of the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, based in Glasgow and Levenmouth, has been, and will continue to be, important, in this. For example in June 2018 the ORE Catapult announced a £1.3 million programme of technology innovation projects designed to advance Scotland’s offshore wind sector[i]. In 2018, the Government also announced a further £73.5 million, five-year funding plan for the ORE Catapult.

[1] The RO closed to new capacity on 31 March 2017 (with exceptions that extended the deadline to 31 March 2018 for certain offshore wind stations). Accredited capacity will receive support for 20 years or until the final closure of the scheme on 31 March 2037, whichever is the earlier.

[2] CfDs awarded for 2,062 MW; under RO total installed at the end of 2017/18 was 218.5 MW.

[i] https://ore.catapult.org.uk/press-releases/innovation-funding-boost-scottish-offshore-wind/