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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the capital cost of new-build offshore wind farms is rising or falling; and what impact that has had on cost estimates for the level of subsidy provided through the Levy Control Framework.

The Government’s last published levelised cost report shows offshore wind costs have fallen.

Support costs are determined by a combination of the Government’s view of generation costs and by competitive allocation. We expect both of these to further drive down support costs for future projects.

At Budget 2016, we announced that the reserve prices for offshore wind will fall from £105/MWh for projects commissioning in 2021, to £85/MWh for projects commissioning in 2026.