Source · Select Committees · Business and Trade Committee
Recommendation 19
19
Deferred
Paragraph: 88
Justify reduced tidal stream funding and consider longer CfDs with a 1GW target.
Recommendation
The Government should justify the rationale for lowering the ringfenced amount of funding for tidal stream in the latest Contracts for Difference auction, and we invite the future Energy Security and Net Zero Committee to consider that rationale and to challenge it if it thinks necessary. We also ask the Government to consider longer term CfDs for tidal energy, reflecting the longer lifecycle for tidal energy compared to, for example, offshore wind turbines. Industry has requested the setting of a target of tidal stream deployment in order to send further market signals. We ask the Government to consider setting a 1GW target for tidal stream by 2035.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government's response states it plans to publish a Biomass Strategy and an updated bioenergy resource model, without addressing any aspect of the recommendation regarding tidal stream energy funding or targets.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
88
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
34. In setting the amount of ringfenced funding for tidal stream for AR5, the Government has had to consider various factors, including the dynamics of funding within the overall pot for all the pot technologies. The minima for tidal stream allows tidal stream projects first to access up to £10m out of the total Pot 2 budget of £35m. Tidal stream projects are protected in this way from competition from other technologies in the pot. 35. Furthermore, the minima has been set at a level that still strives to achieve a balance between factors including deployment and cost to consumers. Further information on how the rules guiding how the minimum will operate within the allocation process is set out in the Draft Allocation Framework. 36. The Government continues to assess the merits of setting a long-term target of tidal stream deployment, and recognises the role tidal stream power could play in helping the UK to achieve net zero. 37. With respect to tidal range, the Government recognises the need to provide tailored subsidy mechanisms for intergenerational assets with long construction times like tidal range, one of which may be a longer-term CfD or a regulated asset base model. Of course, any proposed tidal range schemes would need to demonstrate strong evidence of value for money in the context of other low-carbon technologies inclusive of life span and costs of decommissioning, as well as details of its associated energy system benefits and environmental impact mitigation strategies before the Government could take a view on its potential, or on the funding models appropriate for exploration.
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