Poulter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2015-11-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2015 to Question 13263, whether energy produced by the proposed VikingLink project would be regarded as contributing towards the carbon reduction targets in the Climate Change Act 2008.
Andrea Leadsom
The carbon reduction target is defined in terms of the carbon intensity of generation in the UK. As such, energy imported from Denmark over the proposed VikingLink will not contribute towards the target directly. However, the link will contribute to wider decarbonisation goals by providing access to Danish wind power, and by supporting efficient use of renewable generation in the UK. Interconnection provides tools for system balancing and reduces the need for curtailment by enabling exports at times of excess generation. In this way it can maximise the contribution of domestic low-carbon generation to meeting targets and allow the most efficient use of renewable resource between the two countries.