The Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Lord Whitehead) (Lab)

My Lords, the renewables obligation scheme has incentivised UK renewable electricity generation through a system of tradeable certificates called renewable obligation certificates. Three separate but complementary renewables obligation schemes cover the UK: the RO and the renewables obligation Scotland—ROS—were introduced in 2002, and the Northern Ireland renewables obligation —NIRO—was introduced in 2005. The UK Government are responsible for RO legislation in England and Wales. The Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive are responsible for the legislation of their respective schemes. Ofgem administers all schemes across the UK. The scheme is now closed to new applications—indeed, it was closed in 2017—but existing sites continue to receive support until the scheme ends in 2037. The scheme has been instrumental in taking a nascent renewable energy sector to where it is today, with the scheme supporting around 30% of total UK electricity generation. Electricity suppliers are required each year to present a set number of renewables obligation certificates to Ofgem reflecting the amount of electricity they supply. Where a supplier does not present enough certificates, it must instead pay a buy-out price for each missing certificate. Those buy-out payments are then recycled back to suppliers that have complied, which supports the overall value of certificates and ensures the scheme operates in a fair and predictable way.