Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits to the Scottish manufacturing sector of the development of floating offshore wind technology.

Offshore wind is a success story for the UK. Government support has enabled investment, cost reduction and building a supply chain across different parts of the UK including Scotland. We will look to build on this success as part of our Industrial Strategy.

Floating offshore wind is still at a demonstration phase. However, the technology is eligible to compete in the Contracts for Difference auctions which incentivise developers and supply chains to innovate and reduce costs. If the technology can demonstrate that it can compete with other forms of generation, the manufacturing sector may be able to benefit from UK deployment and potential exports.