Renewables Obligation Order 2006 (Amendment) Order 2007

I am grateful to the noble Lords, Lord De Mauley and Lord Redesdale, for their questions. This is, as I said, a rather technical order and I may not be able to answer all the points raised, but a letter will deal with any points that I fail to respond to. The noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, asked why the RO costs seven times more. The changes to the RO announced in the energy review are intended to clarify the Government’s long-term ambition for renewables and so create greater certainty for ROC prices by extending the level of the RO to 20 per cent. Additional targeted support is also being providedfor emerging technologies and we will promote achievements towards our long-term targets by providing different levels of support for different technologies, as well as by managing costs to the consumer. That response probably does not answer the question of why the RO costs seven times more, but the detailed explanation will be set out in a letter. The noble Lord went on to ask about the removal of the requirement for sale in buyback agreements. This removal is for administrative simplification. Obtaining sale and buyback agreements can be difficult, particularly for small generators. ROCs will now be issued for own consumption without the need for a sale and buyback agreement. We are aware of the concern that this may impact on ROC prices, but we believe that it will be very limited. Less than 1 per cent of total electricity sales are accounted for in sales and buyback agreements. The noble Lord also mentioned microgeneration, as did the noble Lord, Lord Redesdale. The Government are fully committed to promoting microgeneration. In our view, which I know is shared by many noble Lords, microgeneration has a significant role to play in meeting our energy policy objective of sustainable and secure energy supplies for all. In the energy review published last July the Government announced a comprehensive review of the incentives and barriers that impact on distributed electricity generation. In March 2006, we published our first ever government strategy on the promotion of microgeneration. We launched the new carbon buildings programmes in April 2006, offering £30 million in capital grants over three years to successful applicants, with a further£50 million made available in the 2006 Budget. That demonstrates the Government’s commitment to the importance of microgeneration. The noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, also made the point about the development of non-viable wind farms. The RO provides support for megawatts of electricity produced. It is up to the market to decide whether a wind farm is economically viable. The noble Lord, Lord Redesdale, asked about consulting on co-firing. The Government are consulting widely with industry on banding, RO, including different types of support for different forms of biomass used in co-firing, and particularly on more support for energy crops. As I said, this is a technical order. A number of questions have not been answered but, at the beginning of next week, we will get a letter to all noble Lords who have taken part in the debate. On Question, Motion agreed to.