Energy Market Reforms
Debate between Baroness Hayman of Ullock and Earl of Courtown(2 weeks, 4 days ago)
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Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
I just mentioned battery storage, so that is a very appropriate question from my noble friend. As I said, over the summer we announced our decision not to introduce zonal pricing and, instead, to implement this ambitious package of reforms to improve the effectiveness of our current national pricing model. We will publish more detail later this year—including on the role of flexible assets such as storage and consumer-led flexibility in addressing constraints, because flexibility will be a critical part of lowering costs and achieving our clean power ambitions. We recently published the Clean Flexibility Roadmap, which contains a comprehensive, actionable plan for unlocking the kind of greater flexibility to which my noble friend refers.
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
My Lords, the decision not to implement zonal pricing will mean the continuation of payments to turn off wind farms when they produce excess power, which are projected to reach £8 billion by 2030. Given the scale of this, and following on from what the noble Baroness, Lady Winterton, asked, do His Majesty’s Government agree that they should focus their efforts on securing a baseload of energy by investing in nuclear power in order to offset the strain placed on wind farms?
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
We need both. We need renewable energy—I have talked about including wind farms and solar, for example—but that baseload of nuclear power is also important. That is why we are also investing in nuclear and making commitments to nuclear power. It is about finding a balance and getting both, because we need to make sure that we have sustainable, secure energy for the future.
Biodiversity Net Gain
Debate between Baroness Hayman of Ullock and Earl of Courtown(1 year ago)
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Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
Clearly, this is still fairly new for planning applications. It came in only eight months ago, so we are considering how we move forward. I do not have data on that to hand, and I am not sure we would have it available at present, as it has been only about eight months, but I will check and get back to the noble Lord.
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
My Lords, the last Government improved biodiversity monitoring, setting targets to prevent species loss and create half a million hectares of habitat by 2042. Given the important role nature-based solutions play in improving biodiversity, can the Minister confirm that the Government will encourage the use of such solutions to tackle pollution from our water sector?
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
The noble Earl makes an extremely important point. Of course, it is very important that we use nature-based solutions to tackle all kinds of pollution, not only water-based ones. We are very keen to see such solutions implemented.