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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether any of the applicants for developing onshore wind farms have been informed that subsidy will be available to developments not beginning production until after March 2017.

The Renewables Obligation (RO) support scheme closed early to new onshore wind capacity in Great Britain after 12 May 2016, with limited grace periods allowing projects meeting certain criteria to gain accreditation up to 31 January 2019. The early closure and grace periods were brought into effect by the Energy Act 2016 and the rules are explained in guidance available on Ofgem’s website.^[1] When developers apply for support under the RO scheme, Ofgem assesses their application in line with the relevant legislation and informs them if their station meets the criteria for accreditation (including the conditions for any relevant grace period).

Support for onshore wind installations of up to 5 MW total installed capacity is available through the Feed-in Tariff scheme.

[1] Available at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2016/10/renewables_obligation_-_closure_of_the_scheme_to_onshore_wind_england_wales_and_scotland.pdf