§ 26. Mr. JoyceTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to ensure the development of renewable sources of energy. [25574]
§ Mr. WilsonThe Government are taking active steps to ensure the development of renewable sources of energy.
Introducing the new renewables obligation, exempting renewables from the climate change levy and protecting existing non fossil fuel obligation (NFFO) contracts will together create a long-term market incentive for renewables worth over £1 billion per year by 2010.
We are underpinning the obligation with direct Government funding for renewables worth over £260 million between 2001 and 2004. We are setting up an extensive capital grants programme for offshore wind and energy crops projects, initiating a major photovoltaics demonstration programme, and boosting research and development.
We recently introduced an order to allow locational flexibility for NFFO 3, 4 and 5 projects that have not yet been commissioned. This will allow more appropriate locations to be found in order to overcome problems in securing planning permission.
We have initiated studies of each UK region's capacity to generate electricity from renewable sources. Once all these assessments are completed, it is expected that specific regional targets for renewable energy will be adopted across the UK.
The Government are also exploring the scope for upgrading the electricity distribution system to enable the UK's huge renewable energy resources to be exploited to the full. For example, we have commissioned an initial 421W study of the feasibility of an underwater cable to connect parts of the Western seaboard of the UK directly to the National Grid.