Energy Grid Resilience

Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist Excerpts

Tuesday 6th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, Mighty Oak was a successful programme to test plans for full electricity restoration in the event of a national power outage. It was very successful and generated a number of learning points, and we now have a strong governance framework for oversight of the implementation of those recommendations. That work will also feed into the resilience review that my right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced in July 2024.

I assure my noble friend that there is absolutely no complacency whatever, and nor is there any in relation to the energy security system and cybersecurity threats he referred to. It is certainly a key priority for the Government. We work closely with the National Protective Security Authority and the National Cyber Security Centre and we are certainly not complacent on this.

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

My Lords, I can reassure the noble Earl, Lord Russell, that I do not wish to denigrate the contribution of renewables but, with the increasing electrification of heating and transport, can the Minister explain how the grid can remain resilient without more reliable baseload power, such as that provided by nuclear?

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, I agree with the noble Baroness that the baseload that nuclear provides is very important indeed. She knows that we are rapidly approaching the final investment decision on Sizewell C, and the conclusion of the current work of Great British Nuclear in relation to small modular reactors. We are very keen to see the contribution of nuclear recognised. I agree with her that it provides an essential baseload to the system.