Onshore Wind Farms

Lord Morse Excerpts

Monday 23rd March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Whitehead (Lab)]

Well indeed. The first thing, literally, that the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero did upon the Labour Government taking office was to remove the ban on onshore wind and make sure that it could in future play a full part in the development of UK wind, as we have begun to see in the allocation rounds. It is a crying shame that onshore was effectively banned for such a long time and is only now recovering.

[Lord Morse (CB)]

My Lords, is the Minister aware of the deep anger and enduring resentment felt about the way in which the heritage coast of Suffolk, an area of outstanding natural beauty, is being laid waste by the enormous mess of both rebuilding Sizewell and bringing onshore a series of ill-reconciled offshore programmes? This annoyance is added to by the dismissal of many of the points being made in consultation as nimbyism. Are we going to have a similar performance with onshore power?

[Lord Whitehead (Lab)]

I am sure we will not, because onshore power, like offshore power and all other forms of renewable power, has to abide by planning guidelines and guidance and has to fit in well with all the environmental considerations that are being put forward. There will be no change in that requirement; it is just that with the speeding up of some of those processes, onshore wind, where it is requested and where it fits all those requirements, can proceed very quickly.

Nuclear: Small Modular Reactors

Lord Morse Excerpts

Monday 19th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Lord is referring to the road map issued by the last Government. He will know that unfortunately it was not backed up by any concrete plan or resource, so we are having to pick up the pieces. I cannot yet give him the answer on the mix between SMR and major-gigawatt plants. We are clearly alongside the SMR programme. We are moving rapidly towards final investment decision on Sizewell C, which is 3.2 gigawatts. That follows Hinkley Point C, where EDF says the first unit will open between 2029 and 2031. Over the next few months we will work very hard to look at the potential of SMRs, gigawatts and the advanced modular reactors and give industry a sense of where we are going in order to give it the security and certainty it needs to develop the supply chain we want to see.

[Lord Morse (CB)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as a resident of Suffolk. I mention that because to understand the context of small nuclear reactors, it is worth while understanding the progress being made—or not—on the large nuclear reactors. Is it true that the new Sizewell nuclear reactor is not yet funded and that, while it is throwing concrete around north Suffolk, there is no contractual basis for doing so?

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord on living in Suffolk. Only a few weeks ago I had a meeting with Suffolk local authority leaders to discuss these very matters. He is right in the sense that, as I have already said, we are moving rapidly towards final investment decision on Sizewell C. I very much hope we will be able to get that over the line. We have committed £2.7 billion of funding through the Sizewell C devex subsidy scheme to support the project’s development during the current financial year. It consolidates the Government’s position as the majority shareholder in Sizewell C and is laying the foundations for final investment decision and, we very much hope, a 3.2-gigawatt nuclear power station that will power 6 million homes for 60 to 80 years.