Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to source more oil and gas through the North Sea, given the current disruption to energy supplies caused by hostilities in the Middle East.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are confident that we have multiple and sufficient sources of supply.
Oil and gas are traded on international markets, therefore greater domestic production of oil and gas would not take a penny off bills.
The North Sea is a highly mature basin. Production is naturally declining and has been for the last 25 years. We no longer have the reserves available to support domestic energy demand.
The only route to energy sovereignty and energy security for Britain is our mission for clean, homegrown power that we control.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Whitehead on Thursday 26 February (HL Deb col 742), what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the protocol to surround a fire with safety measures and allow it to burn out in controlling and extinguishing fires and thermal runaways caused by battery energy storage facilities.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It is the responsibility of fire and rescue services to determine an appropriate firefighting strategy in the event of a battery thermal runaway event. The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) has published guidance for local fire and rescue services on grid-scale batteries, to enable effective operational pre-planning.
Government has confidence in the NFCC and local fire and rescue services being best placed to make these assessments.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the procedure by which fire and rescue services are consulted at the planning stages of battery energy storage facilities to advise on site design, minimising fire risk and emergency response planning.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As set out in the Planning Practice Guidance, government recommends that developers of battery storage facilities engage with fire and rescue services ahead of the submission of the relevant planning application. This is so that issues relating to the siting of the development can be considered ahead of planning.
The guidance also recommends that local planning authorities consult with fire services as part of the formal period of public consultation prior to reaching a planning determination, as well as considering guidance published by the National Fire Chiefs Council.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional resources they will make available to fire services in England to tackle fires at battery storage plants.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Fires at battery storage plants are rare and government expects any related fire services costs to be resourced from overall budgets.
Last year the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published the 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) which sets out funding allocations for all local authorities, including Fire and Rescue Authorities. These allocations, which include the National Insurance Contribution Grant, will see standalone fire and rescue authorities receiving an increase in core spending power of £69.1 million in 2025/26. This is an increase of 3.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they have taken to prevent thermal runaway at battery storage plants.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Thermal runaway risks at battery storage plants are mitigated through a regulatory framework overseen by the Health and Safety Executive. This framework sets legal requirements for battery developers and operators, requiring them to maintain health and safety throughout all stages of a battery’s deployment. This includes the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations which sets minimum requirements for the management of explosion risks.
To complement this framework, government has recently consulted on the principle of including batteries within scope of environmental permitting legislation. Government will publish a consultation response in due course.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the fire risks of battery storage plants.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government takes fire safety extremely seriously. The risk of a fire starting at grid-scale battery sites is lower than those at non-domestic buildings in general from all sources. Existing regulations and guidance limit the impact of a fire were one to occur, in particular with respect to location and operating conditions.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what compensation is available to residents who have to evacuate due to a fire at a battery storage unit.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government is not aware of any evacuations which have been required in Britain because of fire at a battery site and does not consider the development of any specific compensation arrangements to be necessary.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost per household of the target to reach net zero in each of the next three years.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Net zero is the economic opportunity of the 21st century. Meeting climate targets will cost less than failing to deal with climate change. The Climate Change Committee estimates the cost of meeting net zero targets will be on average the equivalent of 0.2% of UK GDP per year and the OBR estimates the cost of failing to deal with climate change will be around 5% of UK GDP by the 2070s.
The 0.2% cost also does not take into account the wider beneficial growth impacts of net zero investment. Since July 2024, £60bn of private investment has been announced in our clean energy industries.
The OBR is clear that the costs of climate damage are getting higher, while the cost of the net zero transition is getting lower. Only by investing in the transition now can we reduce costs in future
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will ensure that surplus energy generated by solar panels on roofs of warehouses and other commercial buildings can be exported back to the grid.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Generation from rooftop solar can be exported to the grid provided there is capacity to accommodate it. This may require investment in distribution and/or transmission networks. Ofgem has raised the threshold for generation connection projects requiring a transmission network impact assessment from 1 Megawatt to below 5 Megawatts in England and Wales. This will reduce connection timescales and costs for rooftop solar schemes previously above the threshold. Reform of the transmission connections process will facilitate connections for projects that remain above the threshold, provided they are progressing and align with the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the energy stored in battery storage plants will be distributed for use, and whether local communities will be the priority for use of that energy.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Energy from battery storage plants is distributed to consumers in order to maximise benefits to the electricity system overall and depending on where in the network the plant is connected. The Government is considering introducing a mandatory community benefits scheme for low carbon energy infrastructure under which developers would contribute to community funds, directly supporting local priorities and services. The government has sought views on the scope of such a scheme, and how a scheme should be administered and enforced.