§ 22. Mrs. Helen ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on her strategy for the combined heat and power industry. [20578]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Government fully recognise the difficult circumstances facing the UK CHP industry at present, as my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer made clear in his pre-Budget report. The Department is developing a draft CHP Strategy in close collaboration with other Government Departments, which we will issue for consultation early in the new year. It will set out the measures needed to achieve the Government's CHP target of at least 10,000 megawatts of Good Quality CHP by 2010.
§ 36. Fiona MactaggartTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action she is taking to increase the contribution of combined heat and power to Britain's energy supplies. [20592]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Department is developing a draft CHP Strategy in close collaboration with other Government Departments, which we will issue for consultation early in the new year. It will set out the measures needed to achieve the Government's CHP target 949W of at least 10,000 MW of Good Quality CHP by 2010. As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer made clear in his pre-Budget report, the DTI has consulted on the impact of the first few months of the New Electricity Trading Arrangements on smaller generators and Government are considering the means by which any concerns could be addressed. Subject to legal and other constraints, the Government will also consider the environmental case for providing more favourable treatment for CHP within the CCL, taking account of the role which CHP might play in meeting the UK's climate change targets.