Select committee: Welsh Affairs Committee
Recommendation 3
Second Report - Renewable energy in Wales
Published 29 Jul 2021
Paragraph 25
Addressed to Wales Office
Welsh Affairs Committee Renewable energy in Wales All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We encourage The Crown Estate to continue to work proactively with developers to ensure that adequate leasing rounds continue to be offered on a regular basis in the future. Of most importance is that there is, as far as possible, alignment between the timetables being used by The Crown Estate for its leasing rounds and the timeframes which underpin developers investment decisions. The Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy should work with The Crown Estate and energy developers to explore how there can be greater alignment of timeframes for, as well as clearer communications of, leasing opportunities. We also recommend that the UK and Welsh governments should explore mechanisms for more effectively distributing wealth generation from renewable energy projects to communities in Wales.
From: Welsh Affairs Committee, Second Report - Renewable energy in Wales (HC 439), paragraph 25, 29 July 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 26 October 2021 (deadline 29 September 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it "remains firmly committed to the renewables industry across the UK, including in Wales" and responds to each recommendation by setting out existing policy and activity, with several matters left to independent bodies.
- On seabed leasing, it says this is the responsibility of The Crown Estate, which is "independent of the UK Government", and notes that TCE has confirmed its intention to hold a new floating offshore wind leasing round in the Celtic Sea.
- On small-scale generation tariffs, it states "We believe that the market should determine prices" and says the Government will review an annual Ofgem report on the Smart Export Guarantee to monitor whether the market is delivering.
- On grid constraints, it says regulation is a matter for Ofgem and that Government supports Ofgem's work to enable investment ahead of need "where the need is sufficiently certain to justify this".
- On a Welsh freeport, it says "We remain committed to establishing a Freeport in Wales as soon as possible."