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Renewables Obligation (Amendment) Order 2010

Noble Lords will see from the previous order that the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, and I reverse our order on this subject because we learn so much from behind us before we stand up to speak and do not want to appear too foolish when we do so. The noble Lord said that we should be cheerier and more optimistic than we have been this afternoon. I think that the speeches we have heard from all sides of the Committee show unease with this order. That is worrying, and I am sure that the civil servants sitting behind the Minister will be having long talks with him afterwards. We all agree that there is a pressing need to shape up Britain’s renewable energy regime. We know that the United Kingdom is third from the bottom in the European Union in the development of renewables. Only Luxembourg and Malta are behind us, in spite of us having one of the most generous systems of support. I shall leave out biomass and Drax because my noble friend Lord Jenkin and the noble Lords, Lord Woolmer, Lord Stoddart and Lord Teverson described them well. My general concern with the order is that I do not believe that it addresses the magnitude of the renewables challenge that we face. Perhaps the most important issue is the cost that these measures will impose on the consumer. The Minister alluded to this, as did the noble Lord, Lord Reay. Will the Minister provide the Committee with a greater understanding of the financial implications that the Government see these measures having on the public’s already ever-growing energy bills? Can the Minister explain the extent to which the British consumer will be paying to create jobs overseas by allowing renewable generation capacity to be developed overseas using British renewables obligation certificates? The Government talk about the need to do more to support offshore wind, but I am concerned about the lack of consideration and development of other forms of marine renewable potential. We have 11,000 miles of coastline and the highest tidal reaches in the world. We should be a beacon for international investment and a place for developers to try out their projects and ideas. Can the Minister say what research is being done to explore these other methods and to attract international investment? What are the Government doing to protect and support wind technology companies that are already based in the United Kingdom? There are reports that two of the UK’s most advanced developers of wave technology—Pelamis and Aquamarine —are considering developing their technologies overseas. We must harness this section of the market and not let such a great opportunity to capitalise on forms of marine renewable potential other than offshore wind slip through our fingers. We cannot afford to do that. We believe that offshore wind has tremendous potential and an important role to play in the growth of renewables in this country. Does the Minister think that the temporary increase to two ROCs will be sufficient to deliver the increase that the Government want? Beyond the financial practicalities of the Government’s offshore wind targets, the practicalities on the ground are harder to overcome. My noble friend Lord Reay outlined some of the problems that the Government are facing. We currently do not have the cranes, ships, money or skills for the sort of offshore operation that the Government will need to reach their targets. My honourable friend Charles Hendry estimated that: ""Currently, there are only a small number of ships in the world that can erect the turbines at sea. The most efficient of those can erect perhaps 80 turbines a year. The new ships will be able to erect 100 turbines a year. Even if every single ship in the world that can erect turbines was to come to the North sea to help us deliver our capacity, we would probably be erecting 400 to 500 turbines a year, but that is only if they started today and did nothing else for 10 years. However, we need to have about 1,000 turbines a year erected".—[Official Report, Commons, Third Delegated Legislation Committee, 8/3/10; col. 7.]" What are Her Majesty's Government doing to address these problems, especially if we are to achieve the targets, which we all want? These questions aside, we support the order while recognising its shortcoming and seeing the trouble ahead.