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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to develop the renewable energy sector in the UK.

Achieving our 2050 net zero target will require significant increases in renewable electricity generation, and we will continue to encourage deployment and support the UK sector.

The Contracts for Difference scheme has been very successful in delivering large-scale renewable generation whilst reducing costs through competitive allocation rounds. The next round will open in late 2021 and aims to deliver up to double the renewable capacity of last year’s successful round, potentially providing enough clean energy for up to 10 million homes. The Smart Export Guarantee, which was introduced in January 2020, gives small-scale generators, such as homes with solar panels, the right to be paid for the renewable electricity they export to the grid.

The UK is a major global market for renewables, and we want to harness the wider benefits of this market-leading position in terms of jobs and investment. We have already announced £160 million of funding for portside manufacturing infrastructure. The government is eager to strengthen how supply chain plans operate, as signalled in my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s announcement on 6 October.? A government response and a further consultation on how we propose to strengthen supply chain plan requirements through the next Contracts for Difference allocation round will be published shortly.