Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in phasing out coal power.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In line with our net zero target, the Government is committed to phasing out unabated coal-fired power generation by 1st October 2024, earlier than the original 2025 target. The remaining coal fired power station in Great Britain is scheduled to close before this date.
This will mean that we will have reduced coal’s share of our electricity supply from around a third, to zero in the space of only ten years.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government who is responsible for undertaking and funding the decommissioning and removal of (1) offshore oil and gas platforms and connections, and (2) offshore wind turbines and connections.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Following the ‘polluter pays’ principle, industry is responsible for undertaking and funding the decommissioning and removal of (1) offshore oil and gas platforms and connections and (2) offshore wind turbines and connections.
The Petroleum Act 1998 and Energy Act 2004 provide a statutory regime to ensure industry fulfil these responsibilities.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much has been spent through the Warm Home Discount scheme by parliamentary constituency since its creation.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department published statistics on the Warm Home Discount (WHD) for the first time in 2023:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/warm-home-discount-statistics-2022-to-2023
Table 17 in the published tables shows the number of households and the total cost of those households who received the WHD, by Core Group type, since 2011/12 when the WHD was introduced, up until the latest figures for 2022/23. Table 5 provides a breakdown of the number of households and the total cost of those households who received the WHD by parliamentary constituency in 2022/23.
Figures covering 2023/24 are expected to be published on 20th June 2024.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many households received the Warm Home Discount by parliamentary constituency since its creation.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department published statistics on the Warm Home Discount (WHD) for the first time in 2023:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/warm-home-discount-statistics-2022-to-2023
Table 17 in the published tables shows the number of households and the total cost of those households who received the WHD, by Core Group type, since 2011/12 when the WHD was introduced, up until the latest figures for 2022/23. Table 5 provides a breakdown of the number of households and the total cost of those households who received the WHD by parliamentary constituency in 2022/23.
Figures covering 2023/24 are expected to be published on 20th June 2024.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many businesses received support through the Energy Bills Discount Scheme; and what the total amount of support received was, by parliamentary constituency.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As of 30 September 2023, the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) had a cumulative expenditure of £114 million. For more detail on the expenditure incurred by the EBDS and other departmental energy schemes, I refer my hon. Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement made by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 22 April, Official Report, HCWS421.
The Secretary of State will provide an update to Parliament on the EBDS in due course.
Information on the number of businesses receiving this support and levels of support broken down by parliamentary constituency is not held centrally, and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many businesses received support through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme; and what the total amount of support received was, by parliamentary constituency.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government’s intervention meant that many businesses saved around half on their wholesale energy costs during Winter 2022/23, with £7.52 billion being delivered through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS). For more detail on the expenditure incurred by the EBRS and other departmental energy schemes, I refer my hon. Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement made by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 22 April, Official Report, HCWS421.
Information on the number of businesses receiving this support and levels of support broken down by parliamentary constituency is not held centrally, and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 High Court ruling of 3 May 2024 on the Government's carbon budget delivery plan, if her Department will take steps to tackle issues identified by the High Court in that ruling.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is proud of its record on climate change. The Carbon Budget Delivery Plan remains Government policy and sets out over 300 policies and proposals the Government has in place to reach its carbon budget targets.
The judgment contains no criticism of these detailed plans nor the policies themselves, which will keep the UK on track to meet our international commitments, including the 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, and Net Zero by 2050.
Officials are considering the best approach to comply with the court order and Government will publish a new report within 12 months.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the impact of the High Court ruling of 3 May 2024 on the Government's carbon budget delivery plan on the UK's ability to meet its climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is proud of its record on climate change. The Carbon Budget Delivery Plan remains Government policy and sets out over 300 policies and proposals the Government has in place to reach its carbon budget targets.
The judgment contains no criticism of these detailed plans nor the policies themselves, which will keep the UK on track to meet our international commitments, including the 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, and Net Zero by 2050.
Officials are considering the best approach to comply with the court order and Government will publish a new report within 12 months.
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: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she made an assessment of trends in the level of exports from the offshore wind sector since 2015 and; whether she has made an estimate of their total value.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Office for National Statistics publishes estimates of offshore wind exports in Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Economy estimates (LCREE). The table below shows data from 2015 to 2022. It indicates an estimated ten-fold increase over the period, averaging around £2.4 billion for 2021-2022.
Offshore wind exports (£ thousand) | ||||||||
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
UK | 221,500 | 237,500 | 470,500 | 492,000 | 1,153,000 | 790,500 | 2,452,500 | 2,393,000 |