Solar Power

(asked on 9th October 2026) - View Source

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the letter from her Department to the Rt hon. Member for Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge dated 11 February 2026, if she will publish data behind his department’s assessment that solar farms will provide “enormous potential to create good jobs, protect billpayers, ensure energy security”.


Answered by
Michael Shanks Portrait
Michael Shanks
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This question was answered on 19th October 2026

The evidence underpinning this assessment is already published.

The Solar Roadmap, published in June 2025, estimates that the solar sector could support around 35,000 jobs by 2030, double the number it supports today. The Clean Energy Jobs Plan, published in October 2025, sets out the workforce needed across clean energy sectors, including solar, alongside a technical annex and supplementary data.

The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan sets out the Government's analysis that increasing homegrown clean electricity strengthens energy security by reducing our exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets. Utility-scale solar is one of the cheapest forms of electricity generation to build and operate and is expected to help reduce costs in the electricity system over the long term.

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