Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether new jobs created over the past two years by the clean power investment programme have equalled the jobs lost in the fossil fuel industry over the same period of time.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The most recent Office for National Statistics figures show that up to 453,900 full-time equivalent jobs were in the UK’s low carbon and renewable energy economy and wider supply chain in 2024.
The UK Government’s Clean Energy Jobs Plan sets out that the clean energy workforce could grow to 860,000 jobs by 2030, an increase of over 400,000 from 2023.
Independent Robert Gordon University analysis indicates that, under a pathway consistent with delivering clean power, job creation in clean energy sectors is expected to exceed projected job reductions in oil and gas, with renewables supporting more jobs overall over time.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is co-ordinated planning taking place within Government in respect of addressing potential power cuts in 2026 and 2027.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The UK has a highly resilient energy network, with diverse and secure electricity supplies; Government is confident that operators can effectively balance supply and demand in a wide range of scenarios.
Nevertheless, as a responsible Government we work continually and closely with industry and across Government to maintain this resilience, planning for a range of risks and to identify opportunities to mitigate the impacts of actual or potentially disruptive incidents.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the UK's total offshore wind capacity over the past two years has been equal to, or greater than, the total offshore wind capacity in the preceding six years.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The UK’s total offshore wind capacity and electricity generation, 2018-2025, are presented in this table:
Year | Installed capacity (MW) | Electricity generated (GWh) |
2018 | 8,181 | 26,525 |
2019 | 9,888 | 31,975 |
2020 | 10,383 | 40,750 |
2021 | 11,255 | 35,597 |
2022 | 13,847 | 45,113 |
2023 | 14,732 | 49,650 |
2024 | 15,916 | 48,805 |
2025 | 16,650 | 52,019 |
Source: UK Energy Trends table 6.1, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/energy-trends-section-6-renewables
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to break the link between electricity bills and volatile international gas prices.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
Government is already breaking the link between wholesale gas prices and consumer bills by accelerating the deployment of low-cost renewable electricity technologies to reduce our reliance on international fossil fuel markets.
Furthermore, Government plans to offer legacy low-carbon generators the option to move onto fixed price contracts, known as Contracts for Difference (CfDs). We will consult this year and intend to run an allocation process in 2027 to award such contracts.
Finally, Government has acted to tax excess profits by raising the rate of the Electricity Generator Levy from 45% to 55%, ensuring a proportion of any exceptional revenues is available to Government to support households with their cost of living.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether it remains the policy of the National Energy System Operator to achieve clean electricity by 2030 and, if so, what is the effect on the UK's energy security.
Answered by Lord Whitehead
The National Energy System Operator (NESO) is operationally independent from His Majesty's Government. NESO set out pathways to a clean power system in 2030, and confirmed it was deliverable and could see lower electricity costs and bills.
Clean power gives us greater energy security, reducing our dependency on volatile global fossil fuel markets and delivering a diverse, secure and clean energy system based on renewables and nuclear, backed by a reserve of gas supply to be used only when essential. Over time it should significantly lower the wholesale costs of electricity, which will benefit heavy industry and has the potential to bring down consumer bills for good.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of hydrogen in the energy network to improve energy security.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government believes that the only way to guarantee our energy security is to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels and towards homegrown clean energy.
Low carbon hydrogen will be a crucial enabler of a low carbon and renewables-based energy system and will help to deliver new clean energy industries which can support good jobs in our industrial heartlands and coastal communities.
Low carbon hydrogen will play a key role in delivering a decarbonised power system and can also provide very long duration energy storage, making use of curtailed electricity, which will support both a decarbonised electricity grid and increased energy security.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what technical assessment they have made of the potential level of hydrogen blending with natural gas in the National Transmission System.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The GB transmission system operator (National Gas) has conducted trials on the safety of hydrogen blends of up to 2%, 5% and 20% by volume in the National Transmission System. The Department is working with the Health and Safety Executive to ensure that this evidence is assessed as efficiently as possible.
We intend to publish a consultation on blending hydrogen into the GB gas transmission network in the near future.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to consult on the issue of hydrogen transmission blending in 2025.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In December 2024 we set out an intention to consult on transmission-level blending within GB in early 2025 to gather evidence to inform the case for Transmission-level blending. We confirm that we intend to publish a consultation on blending hydrogen into the National Transmission System in the near future.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of hydrogen power stations to complement renewable energy.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Hydrogen to power can play a key role in a Clean Power system by providing low carbon dispatchable generation during lower renewable output periods. Hydrogen to power can deploy at a range of scales, providing a decarbonisation pathway for unabated gas generation, and when connected to large-scale hydrogen storage, can enable inter-seasonal low carbon electricity storage.
The government has committed to implement a hydrogen to power business model to support hydrogen to power deployment. The December 2024 hydrogen to power consultation response outlines the next steps government will take to deliver the business model.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial benefits to businesses of a core hydrogen network, instead of a small cluster network that requires business to provide local infrastructure.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We continue to assess the benefits that a core network could deliver to the hydrogen economy.
In the early years of the hydrogen economy, it is likely that most industrial demand for hydrogen will be located within industrial clusters where sites can share infrastructure. We are therefore prioritising the development of regional network infrastructure while we continue to review the case for a core network to connect regional networks in the future.