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Wind Power: Housing

Volume 457: debated on Wednesday 7 March 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2007, Official Report, column 318W, on Wind Microgenerators, what has been the total Government expenditure on support for domestic wind turbines; and what assessment he has made of the value for money of this expenditure in terms of electricity generated and CO2 emissions avoided. (119363)

Since 2002 the Clear Skies programme has provided support for the installation of a range of renewable technologies including micro wind turbines from 0.5kWp to 25 kWp. The Clear Skies programme approved 208 domestic projects with grant commitment of £866,500. 205 installations have currently been completed (with a total installed capacity of 1,363 kWp), and the total grant spend to date is £851,500.

The Low Carbon Buildings programme continues to support the installation of domestic wind turbines. Since April 2006, 1,495 applications have been approved (total capacity of 2,923 kWp) and the total grant commitment is £1,736,723. 94 projects have currently been completed (total installed capacity of 477 kWp) and the total grant paid is £243,673.

The amount of energy produced and carbon saved by installed micro wind turbines will depend on several factors including size, and type of system (building-mounted or pole mounted), location, wind speed, nearby buildings and the local landscape. At the moment there are insufficient data from the existing micro wind installations to provide accurate information on energy yield and carbon savings. In a previous written reply of 31 January 2007, Official Report, column 318W, I explained that micro wind field trials are about to start and that these trials should provide useful data on the performance of micro wind installations.