Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of the UK's electricity is imported via interconnectors from European countries; and what percentage of electricity in each of those countries is produced from the burning of coal, oil or gas.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In 2025, imports contributed 14% of gross UK electricity supply (excludes exports). Volumes of electricity imported by the UK, by country, and shares of electricity for those countries, produced by burning fossil fuels, are presented in the following table:
| Imports to UK, 2025 (TWh) | Provisional share of electricity generated from fossil fuels, 2025 |
France | 22.6 | 4% |
Norway | 9.4 | 1% |
Denmark | 4.8 | 8% |
Belgium | 3.7 | 25% |
Netherlands | 2.9 | 48% |
Ireland | 0.5 | 50% |
Sources: Energy Trends tables 5.2 & 5.6 and Eurostat (provisional data from monthly Net electricity generation by type of fuel - nrg_cb_pem)
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of barrels of oil stocked and days of average demand for gas held as strategic reserves by the UK before the start of the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz compared to other countries, including Germany and France.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Data on the amount of oil held by the UK is published monthly in Energy Trends Table 3.11. As of February 2026, UK oil stocks were 10.6 million tonnes (equivalent to 81 million barrels) which exceeds the requirements as a member of the International Energy Agency (IEA). The government does not hold strategic reserves of gas. The government does not publish international comparisons on stock levels for either oil or gas. Oil stocks of IEA countries are published on the IEA website.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of the UK's electricity is imported via interconnectors from European countries; and what percentage of electricity in each of those countries is produced from the burning of coal, oil or gas.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. I will correspond directly with the noble Lord.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to publish their response to the findings of the Competition and Markets Authority's report into the subsidy regime for Drax.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We welcome the report from the Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU) regarding government support for large-scale biomass generation. This report makes clear that DESNZ has given detailed consideration of how the Low Carbon Dispatchable CfD is in line with the principles within the Subsidy Control Act and relevant environmental regulations.
We have carefully considered the recommendations in the report and the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero has determined that the subsidy is compliant with the requirements under the Subsidy Control Act. The publication of a response to the SAU report is not required.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the relative cost of installing National Grid electricity cables that are (1) suspended from pylons and (2) buried underground.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The relative costs of overhead lines and burying underground electricity cables are assessed by National Grid at a project-specific level, with costs varying depending on factors such as the terrain and other site conditions. The Institute of Engineering and Technology Study, 2012, found that the lifetime costs for overhead lines range from £2.2m to £4.2m per kilometre, while direct burial underground cables range from £10.2m to £24.1m per kilometre, meaning that undergrounding can cost between 5-10 times more than overhead lines.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the economic case for small modular nuclear reactors compared with alternative options for achieving net zero.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The Government is clear that nuclear power is and will continue to be an essential part of our journey to net zero by 2050, in combination with other low carbon and renewable technologies. Great British Nuclear is pushing forward with its SMR competition for UK deployment with final decisions to be taken this spring. The economic case for SMRs would be factored into any investment decision into the technology.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of public sector buildings in England will have decarbonised heating by 2030.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The Government is committed to decarbonising a significant proportion of public sector buildings by 2030. This initiative is part of the broader effort to reduce carbon emissions and achieve net-zero targets. The Net Zero Strategy set-out the government’s commitment to halve direct emissions from public sector buildings by 2032 and an aim to further reduce them by 75% by 2037, both against a 2017 baseline.
To support this, up to £3.8 billion is being invested through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme over the financial years 2020/21 to 2027/28 to provide grants for public sector bodies in England to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to provide bridging support to Drax in advance of a contractually binding commitment from Drax to introduce carbon capture and storage.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
A consultation was held under the previous administration on whether a transitional, or ‘bridging’, support should be provided for large-scale biomass generators when their current subsidies end. No decision has been taken on proposed support. Any decision will be subject to robust analysis and the Government is considering a range of factors to inform its decision.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the article "UK power stations burnt wood from old forest areas, Drax emails show", published in the Financial Times on 16 October, which cited internal emails from 2022 that concluded that Drax was “highly likely” to have burned wood sourced from ‘old growth’ forests in Canada.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
The Government only supports sustainable biomass and generators only receive subsidies for biomass that complies with our sustainability criteria. The 2023 Biomass Strategy contained a commitment to consult on developing and implementing a cross-sector sustainability framework to enable greater consistency across sectors. Next steps on this will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings in Ofgem’s investigation into Drax Power Limited published 29 August; and what steps they will take in response.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Following the conclusion of Ofgem’s investigation, the Government is considering the findings.