Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent steps her Department has taken to increase the use of tidal stream renewable energy technologies; and whether she has had recent discussions with her international counterparts on the use of this technology.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Tidal stream is eligible for the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, the UK’s main mechanism for supporting low-carbon generation. In the last CfD allocation round a record 11 tidal stream contracts were secured with a capacity of over 53MW. This is a world-leading deployment in Scottish and Welsh waters, and the first time that tidal stream power has been procured at this scale.
The Department engages on tidal stream internationally across Europe and beyond, including at the Ocean Energy Europe conference in October 2023.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she plans to amend the methodology used to set administrative strike prices for all renewable technologies in the Contracts for Difference allocation round six.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government reviews auction parameters, including Administrative Strike Prices (ASP) and the ASP methodology, ahead of every Contracts for Difference Allocation Round. Considering recent price volatility and that no offshore wind technologies were successful in Allocation Round 5, the Government has conducted a thorough review of its cost assumptions ahead of Allocation Round 6. The Government is committed to ensuring that it sets the parameters at a level that would allow sustainably priced projects in the pipeline to compete in the auction. The ASP methodology will be published alongside core parameters in November 2023.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) maintaining a ringfence for tidal stream renewable energy technologies in allocation round six of the Contracts for Difference scheme and (b) setting a target of 1GW for tidal stream technologies by 2035.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is currently developing auction parameters for Allocation Round 6 of the Contracts for Difference scheme, including any for tidal stream, taking into account evidence of the pipeline of available projects. The Government will publish core parameters for the round later this month, and final parameters, including the budget, ahead of the round opening in March 2024.The Government will review the merits of setting an ambition for tidal stream deployment.