Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on (1) tourism, (2) tourism-related jobs, and (3) the environment, by (a) the planned building of Sizewell C, (b) offshore wind farms, and (c) the associated infrastructure in the Suffolk coastal area.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
No individual pre-emptive assessments are made by the Government to avoid prejudicing planning decisions which are taken on the merits of each individual case.
All projects are consented after thorough consideration of all relevant information, including cumulative impacts. Environmental and socio-economic impacts are considered in line with policy in the National Policy Statements.
The rationale for the Secretary of State’s decision for development consent in relation to Sizewell C, consented offshore wind farms and associated infrastructure are set out in the published decision letters available on the relevant project pages of the Planning Inspectorate’s National Infrastructure Planning website.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what factors prevent the establishment of the National Grid Future Systems Operator by 2023.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In the Government’s consultation response published in April 2022, we proposed the creation of a new, independent Future System Operator (FSO). Depending on a number of factors, including timings of legislation, updating licensing arrangements, amending industry codes, and discussing timelines with key parties, the FSO could be established by, or in, 2024.
The Primary Legislation required to establish the FSO is contained within the Energy Bill 2023, which is currently passing through Parliament. Subject to reaching Royal Assent, we aim to establish the FSO as soon as practicable, while maintaining the safety and stability of the energy systems and ensuring a smooth transition.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the planned fivefold increase in the target for offshore wind power production by 2030, what plans they have to amend the criteria for assessing the related cumulative impact.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ensuring environmental protections are maintained is a key component of work being undertaken by Government to facilitate the acceleration of offshore wind. The Energy Bill makes provisions to deliver the Offshore Wind Environmental Improvement Package (OWEIP), which was announced in the British Energy Security Strategy.
The OWEIP will streamline Habitat Regulation Assessments, develop and implement Offshore Wind Environmental Standards, and create a Marine Recovery Fund to enable environmental compensation to be undertaken at a strategic level. This ensures developments are located where there are lower environmental sensitivities, and/or where impacts can be avoided, reduced, mitigated, or if required, compensated.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment has been made of the suitability of the use of Modular Offshore grids in the North Sea corridor to transport power closer to demand; and what assessment they have made of the implementation of Belgium’s offshore grid in this regard.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Electricity System Operator has undertaken consideration of the best approach to coordinate offshore transmission infrastructure to deliver greater efficiencies, reductions in planned infrastructure and accelerate the offshore wind delivery. Belgium’s Modular Offshore Grid connects several wind farms via a single cable. The UK’s Holistic Network Design delivers a similar outcome at greater scale, covering 21GW of offshore generation in its first round and 23GW in its second. Our approach will utilise shared connection points for multiple generators and aims to use multipurpose interconnectors to transmit energy from generators to consumers; reducing costs and impacts for developers, communities, and bill-payers.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government why, in contrast to other regions, the Holistic Network Design impact criteria are not being used to assess the suitability of sites for offshore wind power infrastructure in East Anglia.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Holistic Network Design (HND) was published in July 2022. For offshore wind projects that do not yet have firm connection contracts, the HND recommends network solutions that deliver coordination, cost and efficiency benefits and an overall reduction in new infrastructure. However it cannot mandate changes to projects with pre-existing connection contracts, including many in East Anglia. For these, the Government has launched the £100m capital grant scheme to support the development of voluntary coordination options.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the Offshore Transmission Network Review did not involve a comparative assessment of alternative brownfield sites closer to London for offshore wind power connections to the grid than sites in East Anglia.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Offshore Transmission Network Review seeks address the uncoordinated growth of offshore transmission assets and develop a more coordinated approach to the design and delivery of transmission for offshore wind in Great Britain. For projects that already had firm connection contracts, limited changes could be made without breaking those commercial contracts, which is something the government has no power to do. For these projects, the Government has launched a £100m funding scheme to support developers to develop options for voluntary coordination. This could include reconsideration of some cable routes to reduce landing zones and use brownfield sites.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what research they have carried out in the last 12 months into (1) the propensity of (a) homeowners, (b) private residential landlords, or (c) social landlords, to carry out energy efficiency improvements to their properties, (2) the barriers to making such improvements, and (3) how any such barriers might be overcome; and what were the results of that research.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department continually gathers information on the propensity to install measures as it delivers energy efficiency policies. The potential issues these schemes address include financial barriers, information on what measures to install, concerns about the quality of installations and access to installers. Independent evaluation reports are published that summarise key lessons.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what information they have received from Fire and Rescue Services about the safety of (1) e-bikes, and (2) e-scooters; and the safety of the batteries of those vehicles.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
All e-bikes and e-scooters must comply with product safety legislation including the batteries used to power them. The Government maintains regular contact with the Fire and Rescue Services and has discussed many issues including fire incidents relating to e-bikes and e-scooters. We encourage users to follow available guidance, including from Electrical Safety First and from the London Fire Brigade, alongside manufacturer instructions on safe use.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure public awareness of the availability of the Priority Services Register, including among owner occupiers; and what requirements they have placed on energy suppliers to ensure that households registered with a Priority Services Register have safe gas and electricity supplies in their homes.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Condition 26 of Ofgem’s gas and electricity supply licence conditions requires suppliers to identify consumers who are eligible for the Priority Service Register and offer to add any, or all, of the Minimum Details to the Priority Services Register during interactions. Condition 29 of Ofgem’s gas supply licence conditions requires suppliers to provide a gas safety check free of charge to vulnerable consumers. Further details on support available for those on the Priority Service Register can be found on the Ofgem website.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage investment into technological solutions in the hazard prevention market.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Placing new or innovative products on the market requires the same product safety requirements to be met as is required for existing products. Guidance is available for businesses to help set what is required so that they have a clear route for getting their products to market.
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), acts as the prime channel through which Government incentivises business-led technology innovation. It funds innovation through the allocation of competitively awarded grants and funding is available to all businesses undertaking innovation, irrespective of the technology or sector in which they are working. The UKRI Gateway, available via UKRI’s website, provides data on all funded research and innovation projects.
Innovate UK also helps to connect innovative businesses with the right partners and expertise to help them bring their ideas to market, and grow and scale their companies, through the Knowledge Transfer Network and Innovate UK EDGE.