Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what her planned timetable is for announcing the final revised budget for contracts for difference allocation round six.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
National Grid ESO are currently reviewing applications against the published CfD qualification criteria. The outcomes of this process will dictate timings for when my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will decide whether an increase to the budget is appropriate. The different timeline scenarios are published here:
https://www.cfdallocationround.uk/news/ar6-core-parameters-published
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of steps taken by (a) her Department and (b) the Treasury on ensuring that the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6 delivers more offshore wind capacity than Allocation Round 5.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
On 6 March 2024, the Government confirmed over £1 billion of budget will be available in the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6 auction, including £800 million allocated to offshore wind. This followed the announcement in November that the administrative strike prices for fixed and floating offshore wind had been increased by 66% and over 5 0% respectively, since the previous allocation round. This budget announcement makes this the largest round yet, with four times more budget available to offshore wind than in the previous round.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse of HMS Argyll's refit and LIFEX upkeep programme has been since 2022.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The cost of the upkeep programme for HMS Argyll is not yet finalised and is subject to final agreement with the delivery contractors. This cost will be partially offset by the revenue generated from her sale to BAE, the repurposing of some of her equipment across the Surface Fleet, and the benefits that increased training opportunities within the shipbuilding industry will deliver.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2024 to Question 25350 on Rolls-Royce SMR: Government Assistance, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the decision by Rolls Royce not to pursue plans for a heavy pressure vessel plant in Deeside on the return on capital; and how much and what proportion of the grant has been allocated to Rolls Royce.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under the Low Cost Nuclear programme, the Government has given a grant of up to £210 million to Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd to support development of the Rolls Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design, potentially capable of deployment across the UK in the early 2030s. Whilst part of the work of the Programme has supported the design of key factories and engagement with potential locations, decision on deployment are outside of this funded programme and are a commercial matter for Rolls Royce SMR ltd.
For the current phase of the Low Cost Nuclear programme Rolls Royce SMR have been allocated a total grant of £139.3 which equates to 66.3% of the total grant of £210m awarded. The assessment of Value for Money of activities Rolls Royce is undertaking under the grant funding agreement is in line with Green Book principles.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2024 to Question 23797 on Renewable Energy: Finance, what approximate capacity her Department expects to be successful for the Contracts for Difference AR6.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
National Grid ESO are now reviewing the applications against Contracts for Difference qualification criteria. The volume of capacity successful will depend on a range of factors including the volume of eligible applications, and subsequent bid prices. We cannot pre-judge the outcome of AR6.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of Roll-Royce's decision not to open a pressure vessel manufacturing facility to support the delivery of small modular reactors.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Nuclear vendors’ supply chain decisions are a matter for themselves to take. The Government has high ambitions for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) - the Great British Nuclear-led SMR selection process is to be both robust and the fastest competition of its kind in the world, enabling operational SMRs by the mid-2030s.
Alongside the range of other activities across the nuclear programme, this is a really exciting time for nuclear, which is creating significant supply chain opportunities.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy's press release entitled UK backs new small nuclear technology with £210 million, published on 9 November 2021, what the cost to the public purse is of Government support to Rolls Royce SMR since 2021; and if she will make an estimate of the level of future funding they are forecast to receive by 2035.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under the Low Cost Nuclear programme, the Government has given a grant of up to £210 million to Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd to support development of the Rolls Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design to complete the Generic Design Assessment Step Two. The Rolls Royce SMR is potentially capable of deployment in the UK in the early 2030s. Grant payments are disbursed in arrears subject to Rolls-Royce SMR providing supporting evidence to the grant administrator, UK Research and Innovation. There have been no commitments made for future funding after the Low Cost Nuclear programme.
Separately, Rolls Royce SMR is one of six vendors in the Great British Nuclear SMR Technology Selection Process which have been invited to submit tenders for technology partner contracts. The total funding made available to successful bidders will be subject to tender evaluation and approval of the full business case.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy's press release entitled UK backs new small nuclear technology with £210 million, published on 9 November 2021, what estimate she has made of the projected return on investment of the Government's support to Rolls-Royce SMR.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under the Low Cost Nuclear programme, the Government has given a grant of up to £210 million to Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd to support development of the Rolls Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design, potentially capable of deployment in the UK in the early 2030s. The value for money of the Low Cost Nuclear programme was assessed against Green Book principles as part of normal approvals processes ahead of the grant award.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to Appendix 2 of the Contracts for Difference AR6 Allocation Framework 2024, Appendix 2 of the Contracts for Difference AR5 Allocation Framework 2023 and Appendix 2 of the Contracts for Difference AR4 Allocation Framework 2021, what methodology her Department used to calculate the market reference prices for the years 2026-27 to 2030-31; and for what reason it has been set lower than previous Contracts for Difference Allocation Rounds.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As set out in the accompanying note to the Budget Notice[1], the reference prices we use for the CfD budget are an output from the Department’s main power model and are characteristic of decarbonisation pathways that are net-zero consistent. Wholesale electricity prices are driven by many factors including electricity demand profiles, the plants that generate to meet this demand, as well as fuel price assumptions and carbon price assumptions. Changes in reference prices between rounds depend on the assumptions used in power modelling and the delivery years for each allocation round.
[1] The accompanying note to the Budget Notice can be found here:
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2024 to Question 22389 on Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Aberdeen, what grade the 102 staff employed in her Department's offices in Aberdeen are.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The grade breakdown of current staff based in the Aberdeen office is as follows:
SCS1 | 1 |
G6 | 3 |
G7 | 15 |
SEO | 47 |
HEO | 22 |
EO | 11 |
AO | 3 |
Total | 102 |