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Draft National Policy Statement for Fossil Fuel Electricity Generating Infrastructure (EN-2)

I am grateful. I repeat, from 2020 onwards, tidal power in particular might well have a lot to offer. I have been encouraged by the signs of major companies now investing in some smaller companies. I refer noble Lords to MCT and certain companies operating in the Pentland Firth and Orkney, where there seems to be considerable interest. My understanding is that some of the trials that are now coming forward are showing promise. There has been a change on this in the past year to 18 months, but we are simply not ready for a national policy statement. However, I am keen to ensure that, when it looks as if serious applications are coming forward for consent, we will have a national policy statement ready. The Severn tidal projects are the subject of a separate exercise. Five schemes are shortlisted and are going through assessment at the moment. We also identified a number of other schemes that some of the NGOs that are concerned about Severn tidal thought ought to be looked at. They are the subject of analysis at the moment, and I hope that the outcome will be available in the summer.