Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the (1) original, and (2) current, estimated cost is of the new 400kV double circuit Blackhillock-Peterhead project.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government monitors the progress of transmission projects required to meet our goal of clean power through regular engagement with industry and regulators. Cost estimates are developed and maintained by the relevant Transmission Owners and are subject to regulatory scrutiny by Ofgem.
Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the (1) original, and (2) current, estimated cost is of the East Coast Onshore 400kV Phase 2 project.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government monitors the progress of transmission projects required to meet our goal of clean power through regular engagement with industry and regulators. Cost estimates are developed and maintained by the relevant Transmission Owners and are subject to regulatory scrutiny by Ofgem.
Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the (1) original, and (2) current, estimated cost is of the Beauly-Denny 400kV uprating project.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government monitors the progress of transmission projects required to meet our goal of clean power through regular engagement with industry and regulators. Cost estimates are developed and maintained by the relevant Transmission Owners and are subject to regulatory scrutiny by Ofgem.
Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the original estimated completion date was for the new 400kV double circuit Blackhillock-Peterhead project; and what the current estimated completion date is.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government monitors the progress of transmission projects required to meet our goal of clean power through regular engagement with industry and regulators. Transmission Owners (TOs) are licensed and regulated by Ofgem. While TOs are responsible for delivering transmission projects, Ofgem plays a key role in scrutinising delivery plans, setting the regulatory requirements and monitoring performance (including completion dates), against agreed outputs and milestones. Ofgem holds TOs accountable for the efficient and timely delivery of network upgrades and can investigate potential non-compliance where delivery falls short of regulatory requirements.
Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the original estimated completion date was for the East Coast Onshore 400kV Phase 2 project; and what the current estimated completion date is.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government monitors the progress of transmission projects required to meet our goal of clean power through regular engagement with industry and regulators. Transmission Owners (TOs) are licensed and regulated by Ofgem. While TOs are responsible for delivering transmission projects, Ofgem plays a key role in scrutinising delivery plans, setting the regulatory requirements and monitoring performance (including completion dates), against agreed outputs and milestones. Ofgem holds TOs accountable for the efficient and timely delivery of network upgrades and can investigate potential non-compliance where delivery falls short of regulatory requirements.
Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the original estimated completion date was for the Beauly-Denny 400kV uprating project; and what the current estimated completion date is.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government monitors the progress of transmission projects required to meet our goal of clean power through regular engagement with industry and regulators. Transmission Owners (TOs) are licensed and regulated by Ofgem. While TOs are responsible for delivering transmission projects, Ofgem plays a key role in scrutinising delivery plans, setting the regulatory requirements and monitoring performance (including completion dates), against agreed outputs and milestones. Ofgem holds TOs accountable for the efficient and timely delivery of network upgrades and can investigate potential non-compliance where delivery falls short of regulatory requirements.
Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the generic design assessment process for advanced nuclear technologies is (1) faster, or (2) slower, and (a) more, or (b) less, costly, than for gigawatt-scale reactors.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham
The scope and schedule of a Generic Design Assessment is set by the Requesting Party. By far the biggest influences on schedule, and hence cost, are the maturity and stability of the design, and the quality and timeliness of the Requesting Party’s submissions. Prior engagement with the UK regulators, and access to relevant information and judgements from overseas regulators are other notable factors in determining schedule and cost.
Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what generic design assessments the Office for Nuclear Regulation are currently undertaking; and when they expect each of those assessments to be completed.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham
The ONR are currently undertaking two GDAs, step three of the Rolls Royce SMR and step two of the Holtec SMR-300. Publication of the completion dates for those processes is a matter for the regulators, including the ONR, and the Requesting Parties. These may be subject to change as the processes continue.
Further details on the Office for Nuclear Regulation’s (ONR) current and previous Generic Design Assessments (GDAs) can be found at https://www.onr.org.uk/generic-design-assessment/assessment-of-reactors.
Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government which generic design assessments Natural Resources Wales (1) has participated in, (2) is currently participating in, and (3) is expected to participate in.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has participated in several previous and current Generic Design Assessments (GDAs):
NRW participation in future GDA processes is a matter for discussion between Requesting Parties (RPs) and NRW.
Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have provided any funding to the Welsh Government to support the participation of Natural Resources Wales in the generic design assessment process.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham
HMG has not provided any direct funding to the Welsh Government to support the participation of Natural Resources Wales (NRW) in the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process. Regulatory costs for GDAs are borne by the Requesting Party (RP) of the GDA.