Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what social value criteria the Department has set in the next auction for offshore wind projects in the Cornish Sea; and what assessment his Department has made of potential direct financial or other benefits that may be delivered locally in respect of those projects.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The parameters of the upcoming floating offshore wind seabed leasing process in the Celtic Sea are a matter for The Crown Estate, who have stated developers will be expected to provide a plan of their early investment in support of an internationally competitive supply chain.
Offshore wind is an important growth industry for the UK. The Government estimates the ambition of 50GW of offshore wind outlined in the British Energy Security Strategy, including up to 5GW of innovative floating offshore wind, could support an estimated 90,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2030
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to enable the establishment of a local supply chain for (a) Floating Offshore Wind and (b) the maximum economic benefit of developing the Celtic Sea.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is committed to realising the economic opportunity of floating offshore wind, underlined by its ambition in the British Energy Security Strategy to deploy up to 5GW of floating wind by 2030.
The Crown Estate will launch its 4GW Celtic Sea leasing round later this year, within which developers will be expected to outline their approach to supply chains.
As part of the Contract for Difference process, Supply Chain Plans ensure developers make the investments needed to upgrade supply chain capability. The Government has introduced Supply Chain Plan requirements to all floating wind projects in Allocation Round 5.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the number of (a) direct and (b) indirect jobs that could be created in floating offshore wind in (i) Wales and (ii) the UK in the next five years.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Offshore wind is an important growth industry for the UK. We estimate the 50GW ambition outlined in the British Energy Security Strategy, including up to 5GW of innovative floating offshore wind, could support an estimated 90,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2030. The UK is already a world leader in floating offshore wind, with more installed capacity than any other country and a strong and growing pipeline of floating offshore wind projects. This includes an expected 4GW upcoming in the Celtic Sea leasing round, with the potential for up to an additional 20GW in the Celtic Sea by 2045.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of floating offshore wind on the economy.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Offshore wind is an important growth industry for the UK. We estimate the 50GW ambition outlined in the British Energy Security Strategy, including up to 5GW of innovative floating offshore wind, could support an estimated 90,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2030. The UK is already a world leader in floating offshore wind, with more installed capacity than any other country and a strong and growing pipeline of floating offshore wind projects. This includes an expected 4GW upcoming in the Celtic Sea leasing round, with the potential for up to an additional 20GW in the Celtic Sea by 2045.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had recent discussions with the Welsh Government on the development of floating offshore wind projects.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
BEIS officials engage in regular discussions with Devolved Administrations, including the Welsh Government, on matters of mutual interest. The Celtic Sea constitutes a major development opportunity for the offshore wind sector and is set to create significant opportunities for development in Wales.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to work with the Welsh Government to ensure that the national grid transmission network is upgraded to have the necessary capacity to transmit electricity from both small scale community generation and large scale renewable generation projects such as offshore wind.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government works closely with Ofgem and network companies to ensure there is necessary capacity for renewable generation in Wales and across Great Britain and is engaging with the Welsh Government on this. As part of the Government’s Offshore Transmission Network Review, the National Grid Electricity System Operator will publish a Holistic Network Design by June 30th, which will accommodate 1GW of floating offshore wind capacity in the Celtic Sea.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on promoting renewable energy generation in (a) Newport West constituency and (b) Wales.
Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)
I have regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy about promoting renewable energy generation across all parts of Wales, including Newport.
The UK Government is committed to supporting renewable energy generation, with £285 million per year available in the fourth round of the Contracts for Difference renewable energy support scheme for projects in Wales, Scotland and England. We also recently announced up to £160 million in new funding for new large-scale floating offshore wind ports and factories across the UK. Wales is well placed to capitalise on this funding given the emerging pipelines in areas around the Celtic Sea.
I will continue to work with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and my Cabinet colleagues, to ensure that we capitalise on the huge renewable energy opportunities Wales has to offer.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to ScotWind's announcement on the outcome of its application process for leasing on January 2022, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there is sufficient supply chain development around the Celtic Sea to ensure that the potential benefits of floating offshore wind are distributed across the whole UK.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Celtic Sea will play a vital role in the UK’s Green Industrial revolution, creating new industries and thousands of high-skilled jobs. Floating offshore wind will be a vital component of the UK’s energy mix as the UK moves towards net zero. The Government has committed to delivering at least 1GW of floating capacity by 2030 as a stepping-stone to larger scale deployment through the 2030s. In the draft budget notice for the fourth Contracts for Difference round, the Government announced ringfenced support for floating offshore wind.
The Celtic Sea is an area of significant potential for floating offshore wind. In addition to the test and demonstration floating projects already in early development, the Crown Estate has commenced work on a floating wind leasing round in the Celtic Sea which could bring forward up to 4GW of new projects. Government has set aside up to £160 million to support new floating wind ports and infrastructure; projects servicing the Celtic Sea will be eligible to access this support.
Asked by: Alan Whitehead (Labour - Southampton, Test)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2021 to Question 74871, what assessment he has made of the merits of developing floating wind energy projects in the Celtic Sea.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government considers floating offshore wind as a vital component of the UK’s energy mix. In addition to the test and demonstration floating projects already in early development, the Crown Estate has commenced work on a floating wind leasing round in the Celtic Sea which could bring forward up to 4GW of new projects. The leasing round will focus on early commercial scale projects of 300-350MW and full commercial scale projects of up to 1GW. The Government recently announced up to £160 million to support large-scale floating offshore wind ports and factories to be built across the UK.
Asked by: Alan Whitehead (Labour - Southampton, Test)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of developing floating wind energy projects in the Celtic Sea.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Government sees floating offshore wind as a vital component of the UK’s energy mix as the UK moves towards net zero. The Government has committed to delivering at least 1GW floating capacity by 2030 as a steppingstone to larger scale deployment through the 2030s. In the draft budget notice for the 4th Contracts for Difference round, the Government announced ringfenced support for floating offshore wind.