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 whether the UK is on course to meet its 15 per cent renewable target by 2020; and if he will make a statement.

The UK’s most recent report to the European Commission, published on 21 January 2016, sets out progress in renewables deployment over 2013 and 2014 across heating and cooling, transport and electricity sectors. It reported that the country is beating its interim target of 5.4%, reaching 6.3% of final energy consumption from renewables for 2013 and 2014.

The UK is also making good progress towards the next interim target of an average of 7.47% of energy from renewables across 2015 and 2016. In 2015 alone 8.3% of energy came from renewable sources. Having met the Directive’s interim targets, the assessment is that the UK is currently progressing in line with the trajectory set out in the Renewable Energy Directive.