16:30 George Eustice (Camborne and Redruth) (Con)

A great deal has been achieved, therefore, although I was reminded that it has happened not only in the past 12 months. In the summer of 2009, we talked about the potential for a marine energy park in Cornwall, when the Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, my hon. Friend the Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker), then the shadow Minister, first came down to Cornwall, to the Tremough university campus. I was talking to someone in Cornwall recently who said, “Are you doing this then? When you said that, we thought it was only a story. We didn’t think it was actually going to be done.” So it is good to see that, in this Parliament, the Minister is delivering what he said, and we welcome that.

Before I move on to the main thrust of my comments, I want to talk about the marine renewables deployment fund and its importance. The Minister has already suggested that he anticipates that about half the £20 million set aside by the Department to encourage green energy will go to wave power. In response to a recent question that I asked, he said that he expected a significant sum to come down towards my part of the world, which I welcome. I understand the reluctance to commit in a rigid way, because the Department wants to keep its options open. With a number of people asking what the marine energy park delivers, however, an important principle to establish is that projects in such a park should at least be given some priority treatment in attracting funds to develop the deployment of marine devices. Wave Hub still has two berths left on its device, and we are anxious to attract additional device developers.

First, on the application process, in the UK a developer has to apply to the MMO for all construction, all alteration or any improvement of any works affecting the sea bed. That includes all renewable energy projects, unless they are huge and much larger than what we would be talking about in marine energy at this stage. Compare that with Norway, where simply the local municipal authority or, in some cases, the regional coastal authority makes such decisions.

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16:45 The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Gregory Barker)

Alongside the other UK marine energy testing facilities at EMEC in the Orkneys, and the marine drive train testing facility that is opening in the spring at the National Renewable Energy Centre—NaREC—in the north-east of England, Wave Hub helps to give Britain a unique offer to this emerging sector not just in the British Isles, but globally. Here in the UK, we continue to be a global focus for an important long-term global industry. It is vital to maintain that competitive advantage, given the significant and increasing interest in other parts of the world. I am constantly looking at how to push forward that agenda in partnership with the industry.

Before I say anything about today’s topic, let me use this opportunity to welcome the report from the Select Committee on Energy and Climate Change on “The Future of Marine Renewables in the UK”, which was published last week. It underlines the great potential benefits that development of a thriving marine energy sector can bring to the UK, and recognises the coalition’s work to support development of the sector. When I spoke to the Committee last year, I underlined the Government’s determination to grow a thriving marine sector, building on Britain’s wealth of experience and expertise. We will carefully review the report and respond to its recommendations in due course.

Our work with the sector through the programme board has demonstrated that as well as revenue support, the sector needs capital investment if it is to move towards commercialisation. I therefore announced last June that following the success of the £22 million marine renewables proving fund, the Department of Energy and Climate Change has also allocated up to £20 million for the development of pre-commercial wave and tidal arrays. I remind hon. Members that that funding represents a significant proportion of the overall DECC innovation funding allocated for the spending period at a time of severe retrenchment and austerity, so it is a good outcome for the sector.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is reviewing the implementation of the birds and habitats directives, which are important environmental directives that affect the renewable energy sector. The views of the offshore renewables sector are being fed into the review, so that the right balance between efficient deployment of marine energy and the safeguarding of our marine habitat can be struck. I will, however, take on board my hon. Friend’s comments about Norway.

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