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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the maximum output of renewable energy that (a) current and (b) planned future infrastructure is capable of achieving; and when this maximum output will be achieved.

Current and historical plant capacities are published in Energy Trends Table 6.1.^[1] These represent the maximum generation that might be produced by all renewable generators in any given quarter. For future years, indicative, Net Zero-consistent, power sector projections are published in Annex O of the Energy and Emission Projections.^[2]

These show a current renewable capacity of 43 GW, with renewable capacity potentially increasing year-on-year (to 2050) to between 157 and 242 GW.

No estimate is made of the exact maximum output that these generators will produce as load factors vary significantly with weather, geographical location, and time.

^[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/energy-trends-section-6-renewables

^[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-and-emissions-projections-net-zero-strategy-baseline-partial-interim-update-december-2021