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 his Department has made of whether the funding in Contracts for Difference allocation round 4 will be sufficient to cover floating wind projects in both the North Sea and the Celtic Sea.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Government sees floating wind as a vital component of the UK’s energy mix as the UK moves towards net zero. Therefore, it has committed to delivering at least 1GW floating capacity by 2030. In the draft budget notice for the 4th Contracts for Difference round, the Government announced ringfenced support for floating offshore wind.
The UK is a global leader in this technology, with more installed capacity than any other country in the world. The Government believes there is a real opportunity to develop this position to create a strong domestic industry, generating high-skilled jobs and driving investment. The Government has committed up to £160m to develop UK ports and the floating wind supply chain, part of a £380m package over the next four years to support the development of the offshore wind industry in 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, whether the Government plans to use public funding to stimulate the development of floating wind energy projects in the Celtic Sea.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to delivering up to 1GW of floating offshore wind capacity by 2030. The Government recently announced up to £160 million to support large-scale floating offshore wind ports and factories to be built across the UK. Further, the draft parameters for the fourth Contracts for Difference allocation round, published in September, included ring-fenced support for floating offshore wind projects.
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, what assessment he has made ahead of COP26 of the potential merits of developing floating offshore wind generation in the Celtic Sea to help the UK Government deliver its target of 1GW of energy by 2030.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Celtic Sea is an area with significant potential for floating offshore wind. Following engagement with the market, The Crown Estate is currently designing new seabed leasing for floating wind in the Celtic Sea, focusing on projects up to 300MW. The number, size and locations of potential projects will not be known until the process is completed.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of Sate, what steps he plans to take ahead of COP26 to achieve the Government's (a) net zero target and (b) levelling-up agenda in the context of the development of floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has achieved record clean growth - between 1990 and 2019, our economy grew by 78% while our emissions decreased by 44%, the fastest in the G7. The government has recently laid legislation for the UK’s sixth carbon budget, proposing a target which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels. This marks a decisive step towards net zero by 2050 and builds on the series of ambitious plans we have announced since committing to net zero emissions in law, including through my Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan and our new UN climate target to reduce emissions in 2030 by at least 68% compared to 1990 levels – the highest reduction target made by a major economy to date.
Through the Ten Point Plan, our Energy White Paper and Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, we have set out concrete steps we will take to build back greener from the pandemic and reach net zero emissions by 2050. Ahead of COP26, we will bring forward further bold proposals, including a Net Zero Strategy, to cut emissions and create new jobs and industries across the whole country.
The Ten Point Plan announced our aim to quadruple the capacity of our offshore wind available to generate 40GW, including 1GW of floating offshore wind by 2030 - enough to power every home in the country. To do this we are investing £160 million for ports and infrastructure, which could support up to 60,000 jobs. The government is working with the offshore wind sector, through the Offshore Wind Sector Deal, to grow and strengthen a competitive UK based supply chain creating jobs around the UK.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how with the future development of Celtic Sea wind power they will ensure that power lines to shore are shared to prevent excess damage to the seabed and minimise costs.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has launched the Offshore Transmission Network Review to ensure that the transmission connections for offshore wind generation are delivered in the most appropriate way, considering the increased ambition for offshore wind to achieve net zero. This will be done with a view to finding the appropriate balance between environmental, social and economic costs.
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 May 2021 to Question 2856, what assessment his Department has made of the potential pipeline of floating wind projects which could be developed by (a) 2030 and (b) 2040.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has a target of 1GW of floating wind by 2030.
In addition to the (operational) Hywind and (under construction) Kincardine projects, there are a number of projects at an earlier stage of development – Blyth, Erebus and Pentland.
The current ScotWind seabed leasing process is expected to result in a number of potential floating wind projects. The number, size and locations of potential projects will not be known until the ScotWind process is completed.
The Crown Estate is currently designing new seabed leasing for floating wind projects in the Celtic Sea, focusing on projects of 300MW. The number, size and locations of potential projects will not be known until the process is completed.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to engage with the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership to ensure that the proposed floating offshore windfarms are built off the coast of Cornwall.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Floating offshore wind presents an exciting opportunity to support the UK’s low carbon ambitions, whilst maintaining a leadership position in offshore innovation. The Department, alongside the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government are in regular contact with the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership, including in regard to their plans to transform the existing Wave Hub asset, off the coast of Cornwall, into a test site for floating offshore wind technologies.
The Government recently consulted on the forthcoming Contracts for Difference allocation round, due to open in 2021, and included questions on measures to support floating offshore wind. The Contracts for Difference approach could support the commercial build out of offshore zones in the Celtic Sea.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) volume and (b) composition of plastic waste in UK territorial waters.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Marine plastic litter can move with ocean currents, which makes it difficult to calculate how much is situated in UK territorial waters at any given point in time.
Seafloor litter data is collected for the North Sea, English Channel, Celtic Sea and Irish Sea and this area includes, but is not limited to, UK territorial waters. Over 25 years (1992-2017) on average 324 litter items were recorded per km2 of seafloor. Between 2016 and 2018 more than 81% of the litter items recorded were plastic. Common items recorded were bags, plastic sheets and fishing debris.
We collaborate closely with neighbouring countries through the OSPAR Convention to reduce the flow of waste into the North-east Atlantic. We are delivering on our commitments in the OSPAR Marine Litter Regional Action Plan, which contains 55 collective and national actions to address both land- and sea-based sources of marine litter.
The Resources and Waste Strategy for England, published in December 2018, sets out our plans to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste, working towards our 25 Year Environment Plan target to reduce all types of marine plastic pollution.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, which three species of fish caught for commercial purposes in British waters are in shortest supply.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The UK Sea Fisheries Statistics 2017 www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-sea-fisheries-annual-statistics-report-2017 - provides information on the UK fishing industry and about the exploitation of fish stocks.
The three key commercially targeted sea fisheries species which would be considered to be in shortest supply determined by scientific advice are:
- North Sea cod
- Mackerel in the North East Atlantic
- West Coast horse mackerel
Some bycatch stocks of lower direct commercial importance which are taken in mixed fisheries, such as Celtic Sea cod and Irish Sea whiting, could also be considered as being in short supply.
Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he is having with representatives of the fishing industry on the future implications of the discard ban and its effects on local fishermen’s income.
Answered by George Eustice
I have discussed the implications of the Landing Obligation and possible problems regarding choke species with a number of fishing industry representatives including from the Cornwall Fish Producers Organisation, where concerns over the gadoid fishery in the Celtic sea were raised.
The UK has put forward proposals for mitigation measures which have been included in the join recommendations submitted by the North Sea and North Western Water regional groups to the Commission in May 2018. Other mitigation measures will be developed in discussion with the European Commission and Member States over the next few months for possible inclusion in the annual TAC and Quota Regulation to be agreed at December Council. I had a bilateral meeting with Commissioner Vella to discuss the specific challenge of choke species during the Fisheries Council in Luxembourg on the 18th July.