Wind Power: Scotland

(asked on 19th February 2021) - View Source

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 effect of grid charges on the ability of offshore wind projects in the North of Scotland area to compete with offshore projects in the southern coast of the UK; and if he will he make a statement.


Answered by
Anne-Marie Trevelyan Portrait
Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 1st March 2021

Network charges are one of many factors that developers will take into account in deciding whether and where to progress particular generation projects. Network charging is a matter for Ofgem as the independent energy regulator, and the charging arrangements it oversees are designed to be cost-reflective to promote efficient network use. For the electricity transmission network, charges include a locational component which recognises that consumers and generators in different locations impose different costs on the network. This means that generators in areas where there is more generation than demand, such as Scotland, pay higher transmission charges than those elsewhere because the electricity has to be transported longer distances to where it is consumed.

Through its Access and Forward-Looking Charging Review, Ofgem is currently developing reform proposals of possible relevance to the network charges incurred by some onshore wind projects in Scotland. It intends to consult on these proposals later this year.

Reticulating Splines