§ Ian LucasTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to set a minimum rate at which electricity companies may buy electricity from owners of solar panels. [51194]
§ Mr. WilsonI have no current plans to set a minimum rate for electricity purchased from owners of solar panels. In a liberalised electricity market suppliers can choose to offer special tariffs for electricity generated from renewable sources, and one or two are already offering equal tariffs for electricity generated from solar panels.
§ Ian LucasTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what incentives are available for people investing in solar energy. [51197]
§ Mr. WilsonThe £20 million First Phase of the Major Photovoltaics Demonstration Programme, which I announced on 26 March, offers incentives to a variety of people and organisations to install solar panels.
Applications for individual systems of 0.5–5k Wp will be accepted from householders, schools, community groups and SMEs on a rolling basis and 50 per cent. capital grant awards will be automatic, provided that the basic programme criteria are met. Applications for larger individual systems. or for multiple systems (e.g. from housing developers) will be considered on a quarterly competitive call basis. Grant levels will be subject to European Union State Aid rules and will vary from 65 per cent. for public bodies to 40 per cent. for private sector organisations other than SMEs.
§ Ian LucasTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what forecast she has made of the proportion of UK electricity generating capacity which will use solar energy in the next decade. [51192]
§ Mr. WilsonDTI energy projections cover installed capacity in the electricity supply industry (ESI), which is defined as major power producers and those 'industrial' generators using renewable sources of energy. Latest DTI1 projections for the ESI show zero installed solar PV capacity to 2010.
Installed UK solar PV capacity in building, non-building and off-grid applications was 1.95MW in 2000. Although no formal projections have been made about growth in this area, existing field trials and the First Phase of the Major PV Demonstration Programme (MDP) should add around 10–15MW of installed capacity over the next three years. This could rise to 200MW over the next decade if the full MDP is implemented.
1 Energy Projections for the UK, DTI Energy Paper 68. "http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/energyprojections.htm
§ Ian LucasTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will set a target for the installation of solar panels on domestic properties. [51193]
§ Mr. WilsonUnder the £20 million First Phase of the Major Photovoltaics (PV) Demonstration Programme (MDP), which I announced on 26 March, there is a target for 3,000 domestic roofs to receive solar panels over the212W next three years. The Government will take a decision on whether to proceed with a second phase, and if so the appropriate target for the number of systems, in the light of progress achieved with the first phase.
In addition, my Department's Domestic PV Systems Field Trial, which is already underway, should see PV systems installed on over 500 roofs by the end of this financial year.
§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the estimated cost is of extending the enhanced capital allowances scheme for energy saving technologies to include(a) solar photovoltaics and (b) onshore and offshore wind; and if she will make a statement. [51507]
§ Mr. WilsonSolar photovoltaics, onshore and offshore wind already benefit from the Renewables Obligation and exemption from the climate change levy. Except for onshore wind energy, which is already a competitive technology, they also benefit from substantial capital grants. We have no plans to extend enhanced capital allowances to these technologies.
§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the estimated total value is of her Department's capital funding programmes to the UK solar PV industry in each year from 2001 to 2005 for(a) domestic, (b) commercial and (c) industrial applications; and if she will make a statement. [51511]
§ Mr. WilsonThe Domestic Field Trial is supporting the installation of PV systems on over 500 homes from 2001–03 with a budget of £5.4 million, and the Large-Scale Field Trial is supporting the installation of large PV systems on 18 non-residential buildings from 2002–04 with a budget of £4.2 million.
In addition, the First Phase of the Major PV Demonstration Programme, which the Secretary of State launched on 26 March, will support the installation of PV systems on at least 3,000 homes and 140 non-residential buildings over the years 2002–05, with a budget of £20 million. The budget will be split roughly 2:1 in favour of domestic applications, and the split between commercial, industrial and other large non-residential buildings will be determined by a selection panel on the basis of proposals received in the quarterly competitive call process.