Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish the consultation on nuclear power being classed as environmentally sustainable in the green taxonomy; and what plans they have to make nuclear energy eligible for green financing.

Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

On 14th November 2024, the Government published a consultation to assess the value case for a UK Green Taxonomy, which closed on 6 of February 2025. The Government is reviewing responses and will provide a Government Response on next steps in due course.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the outcome of the prior information notice (PIN) exploring building a further large-scale nuclear power station, published in May 2024; whether they will list the potential vendors who expressed an interest; and what assessment they have made of the future policy for large-scale nuclear development in the UK.

Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Prior Information Notice was published to support policy exploration under the previous Government and has since closed with 10 responses. The names of the organisations which responded is commercially sensitive. No decision has yet been taken on whether to pursue a future large-scale project.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government why the civil nuclear new build sector was not identified as a key sector to be included within their Energy Skills Passport, launched on 22 January; and what plans they have to include it, given the UK's nuclear sector needs 40,000 net new entrants by 2030 to meet its growth ambitions.

Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Department is a strategic partner of the Energy Skills Passport project in collaboration with industry and Scottish Government. The passport is an industry led initiative overseen by Renewable UK and Offshore Energy UK and supported by the UK and Scottish Governments.

The Department and Scottish government are working with RUK/OEUK to identify how best to expand the passport in the future.

Through the Nuclear Skills Plan, we are committed to encouraging career transitions and accelerating learning and upskilling for new entrants into the nuclear sector.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decision in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan to allow only 700 megawatts of additional Scottish onshore wind capacity to connect to the grid between 2031 and 2035.

Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The regional capacity breakdowns for transmission connected technologies required for 2035 as set out in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, connections reform annex, have been developed using ranges from the NESO Future Energy Scenarios 2024 net zero aligned scenarios.

The ‘Future Energy Scenarios: Pathways to Net Zero 2025’ document outlines NESO’s methodology in full detail.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have undertaken an impact assessment of the decision to cap the supply of projects in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan and the risk of driving up bills by reducing competition.

Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The capacity ranges set out in the Action Plan are not intended to cap supply of projects but, amongst other things, help prioritise the reform of the connections process. Today’s connections queue is significantly oversubscribed, with large volumes of some technologies and less of others.

It is vital that Contracts for Difference (CfD) continues to offer value for money to consumers and continue to deliver low prices, which is why auctions are designed to keep the process competitive.

Our reforms are aimed at improving the ability of the CfD mechanism to support a large volume of renewable capacity – particularly offshore wind – whilst maintaining competition, which provides value for money for consumers.

Found: value for money, efficiency and effectiveness.187 Amendment 10 was not put to a division.188 Lord Ravensdale

Found: value for money, efficiency and effectiveness.187 Amendment 10 was not put to a division.188 Lord Ravensdale

Found: LORD RAVENSDALE 11★_ After Clause 8, insert the following new Clause— “Report on green skills Six

Found: Letter dated 21/02/2025 from Baroness Smith of Malvern to Lord Ravensdale regarding a correction to a

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