Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the size of the (a) solar, (b) wind, (c) offshore wind and (d) renewable heat sector is; and by what proportion she plans for these sectors to grow in the next (i) five, (ii) 10 and (iii) 20 years; and if she will make a statement.
Andrea Leadsom
The latest available data on the size of the low carbon sectors is published in a BIS report on ‘The size and performance of the UK low carbon economy’. The report contains estimates on turnover, Gross Value Added (GVA), number of firms and number of jobs supported by various low carbon sectors. These estimates are presented in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Size of the solar, wind and renewable heat sectors in 2013
|
Sector |
Number of firms |
Number of jobs |
Turnover (£m) |
Gross Value Added (£m) |
|
Solar |
2,400 |
34,400 |
8,400 |
3300 |
|
Wind |
500 |
32,700 |
9,800 |
2,700 |
|
Onshore |
300 |
19,000 |
6,300 |
1,700 |
|
Offshore |
200 |
13,700 |
3,500 |
1,000 |
|
Renewable heat |
2,300 |
86,000 |
37,600 |
17,500 |
|
Total |
5,200 |
153,100 |
55,800 |
23,500 |
Note: Renewable heat includes the following sectors: Energy generation from waste and biomass, biomass equipment, geothermal, heat pumps, solar thermal, heat networks and alternative fuels. Some categories also include activity not relating to renewable heat. Jobs, turnover and GVA include supply chain activity.
Source: BIS (March 2015) “The Size and Performance of the UK Low Carbon Economy
Future growth in these sectors will depend upon a number of factors, such as technological development and cost reduction.
The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) budget to cover both domestic and non-domestic schemes has been confirmed to March 2021, with funding rising each year to £1.15bn in 2020/21. We believe that this is sufficient to heat the equivalent of 500,000 homes. We are planning to reform the RHI with a particular view to improve value for money, reduce cost and improve cost control.
