Source · Select Committees · Business and Trade Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Deferred
Paragraph: 61
Publish plans for monitoring 50 GW offshore wind and Crown Estate social value oversight.
Recommendation
In response to this report, the Government should set out how it is monitoring progress against its ambition to deploy 50 GW of offshore wind by 2030. The Government should also set out how it will be responding to the recommendations of the UK Offshore Wind Champion. Furthermore, local communities which host critical national infrastructure must see tangible benefits from doing so, and connections between offshore wind farms and transmission networks need to be better co-ordinated to minimise disruption for local communities. We ask the Government to set out how it will ensure appropriate oversight of Crown Estate decision-making in respect of social value and impact for local communities.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government's response discusses the strategic case for nuclear power, the establishment of GBN, and cost management for projects like Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C. This completely deflects from the recommendation concerning monitoring offshore wind targets, responding to the UK Offshore Wind Champion, and ensuring oversight of Crown Estate decisions.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
61
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
20. The UK has a world-leading ambition to deploy up to 50GW of offshore wind power by 2030, with up to 5GW coming from floating offshore wind. Although the UK is a world leader in offshore wind, with the most installed capacity in Europe, the Government recognises there are still opportunities for accelerating the deployment of offshore wind in the context of the UK’s increased ambitions. The Offshore Wind Industry Council, chaired jointly by industry and the Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero, will bring together key stakeholders to support the continued development of the UK’s world- leading offshore wind sector. Work is already underway across government and industry to implement many of the UK Offshore Wind Champion’s key recommendations, and we will collaborate with a range of stakeholders to consider all of the recommendations in the report. 21. The Government is consulting on community benefits for network infrastructure, to ensure communities hosting transmission network infrastructure can benefit from supporting the delivery of cheaper, secure and low-carbon energy for all of Great Britain. The consultation, with a close date of 15th June 2023, proposes to introduce voluntary guidance on the appropriate levels and forms of benefits to give communities the knowledge, power and flexibility to decide what benefits they want in consultation with the project developer. Decarbonisation of the power sector: Government Response 5 22. The Government will work with The Crown Estate to look at how better co-ordination of transmission links can be incorporated at the early stages of designing future seabed leasing rounds. This will join up with the wider, ongoing work on improving transmission co-ordination and marine spatial prioritisation. 23. Energy Trends is a quarterly statistical release that provides the official statistics for installed offshore wind capacity in the UK, split between fixed and floating offshore wind. The Government uses this to assess our current position compared to our 2030 ambitions.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗