Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what amount of funding his Department has invested in (a) renewable and (b) non-renewable energy projects in the last five years.

For the most recent five-year period of complete data (2014-2018), DFID bilateral spend on energy projects was £473m. Of this, £211m was on renewable energy and £12m on non-renewable. The remaining £250m spend was on energy policy, research, efficiency and distribution not directly associated with any fuel.

One of the UK’s development priorities is to help developing countries establish a secure and sustainable energy supply, in support of economic growth and poverty reduction, whilst simultaneously pursuing our climate and environmental objectives. DFID increasingly supports renewable energy projects to unlock affordable and clean energy and has not provided ODA bilateral assistance for coal-fired power generation since 2012.

Since 2011, the UK has provided 26 million people with improved access to clean energy and installed 1,600 MW in clean energy capacity.