§ Mr. StunellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of the additional £98 million funding for renewable energy capital grant programme to 2006 is being allocated to(a) offshore wind, (b) solar PV and (c) biomass. [139492]
§ Mr. TimmsA little under 50 per cent. of this funding has been committed to Round 1 offshore wind projects, reflecting the importance of offshore wind to meeting the Government's 2010 renewable energy target. It is intended that decisions on the allocation of the remaining funding will be taken in the first half of 2004.
§ Mr. StunellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much capital grant funding she will make available for large scale solar PV projects in(a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05. [139493]
§ Mr. TimmsThe notional budget for Stream 2 (medium and large-scale projects) is £12 million over the first phase of the Major PV Demonstration Programme. So far, around £9 million has been allocated over five rounds, and we plan to run three further rounds in 2003–04. This will require some over-committing of funds in the expectation that a certain proportion of projects will not go ahead. Any extra funding allocation for 2004–05 will have to await the outcome of the Renewables Innovation Review around the turn of the year.
§ Mr. StunellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much private sector investment there has been in UK based solar PV manufacturing since the start of her Department's major demonstration programme phase one. [139494]
§ Mr. TimmsWe do not have precise figures for this, but the recent announcements by Romag, Marley, BP Solar and Sharp lead us to believe that a significant UK manufacturing base is beginning to develop in response to the first phase of the Major Photovoltaic Demonstration Programme.
§ Mr. StunellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new installers were registered under her Department's solar PV major demonstration programme in(a) 2002 and (b) 2003. [139495]
§ Mr. TimmsBefore the start of the Major Photovoltaics Demonstration Programme in April 2002, it is estimated that there were less than a dozen companies in the UK capable of doing PV installations. 747W In 2002–03 the programme had 16 fully accredited and 13 provisionally accredited installers. In the first half of 2003–04 there was one further fully accredited and four more provisionally accredited installers, taking the total to 35 different installers.
§ Mr. StunellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many jobs have been created in the UK solar PV industry since the start of the major demonstration programme phase one. [139496]
§ Mr. TimmsWe do not have precise figures for this, but the number of new installers and increases in staffing in existing design/installation companies, as well as the recent announcements by Romag and Sharp, lead us to believe that several hundred new jobs will have been created by March 2004.
§ Mr. StunellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what criteria her Department will use to assess the success of the solar PV major demonstration programme phase one. [139497]
§ Mr. TimmsA range of criteria will be used to assess the success of the First Phase of the Major PV Demonstration Programme, including:
- Raising awareness of PV in the UK
- Achieving the target number of installations and installed capacity
- Reduction in the cost of PV systems
- Development of an installer base
- Development of a UK PV industry
- Overall value for money of the programme
§ Mr. StunellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the totally installed capacity is of Solar PV in the United Kingdom. [139529]
§ Mr. TimmsAt the end of 2002 the estimated total installed capacity in the UK was 4.14MWp. By the end of 2003 we expect this to have risen by at least 50 per cent.