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

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential for windfarms to reduce energy costs during the winter months.

In winter 2014/151 around 11.6% of the electricity generated in the UK was sourced from wind.2 Along with other forms of low-carbon generation, this helps put downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices, helping to offset some of the costs of supporting renewable generation on final energy bills. DECC estimates that wholesale electricity prices were around £1/MWh lower (equivalent to £5 lower for an average household energy bill) in 2014 than they would have been in the absence of policies to support investment in low-carbon generation, and reduce electricity demand. In 2020, wholesale electricity prices are estimated to be around £4/MWh lower (or £12 lower for an average household energy bill) than they would be in the absence of the same policies.3

[1] Defined as the period Q4 2014 to Q1 2015

2 Source: DECC Energy Trends

3 All figures are real 2014 prices. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimated-impacts-of-energy-and-climate-change-policies-on-energy-prices-and-bills-2014.