Combined Heat and Power (Hansard, 27 February 2002)

§ Mr. Sayeed
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to ensure that the Government's CHP target is reflected in her Department's aims and objectives. [37705]

§ Mr. Meacher
The Government target of 10,000 MWe of installed CHP by 2010 will make a significant contribution to DEFRA's objectives to promote sustainable management and prudent use of natural resources domestically and internationally. The CHP target will also contribute to DEFRA's future public service agreement targets.

§ Mr. Sayeed
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on how applicants qualify for inclusion in the Government's quality assessment procedure for CHP; and whether this procedure requires periodic re-assessment. [37710]

§ Mr. Meacher
The Combined Heat and Power Quality Assurance programme (CHPQA) provides a practical, determinate method for assessing CHP schemes. Operators are required to self-assess their scheme, based on actual performance data, which are subject to validation and verification. A CHPQA certificate is then issued detailing the parameters qualifying as "Good Quality" CHP. All CHPQA certificates are valid to 31 December of the year of issue, whereupon applicants must submit a fresh self-assessment based on the previous year's data.