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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of (a) the potential merits of a larger number of Power Purchase Agreements in the UK electricity market and (b) the effect of those agreements on (i) Government subsidies provided to renewable energy generators through the Contract for Difference scheme and (ii) electricity cost for consumers; and if he will make a statement.

The Government recognises that achieving our 2050 net zero target will require increased deployment across a range of renewable technologies. The UK's main support mechanism is the Contracts for Difference Scheme (CfD), which has been hugely successful at bringing forward large-scale renewable generation at low costs to the consumer.

Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) can improve the financial viability of renewable projects built without Government support. PPAs of this nature do not add to consumer levy costs, have the potential to create additional renewable generation capacity and can reduce overall demands on the grid if meeting the needs of large energy users. All routes to deploy cost effective low carbon generation are welcome and given our highly ambitious carbon budget and net zero targets, we anticipate that PPAs will be an important part of the landscape to complement Government mechanisms such as the CfD.