Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what sites in Wales currently house or have in the past 20 years housed a nuclear reactor, including university and medical locations.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There have been two nuclear reactors located in Wales; both are now being decommissioned. The nuclear power plant on the Trawsfynydd site came offline in 1991 and the plant on the Wylfa site in Anglesey stopped generating electricity in 2015. The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) regulate nuclear sites in Great Britain and publish a map of licensed sites on their website at www.onr.org.uk/our-work/map-of-sites-and-facilities/. GE Healthcare operated a Nuclear Licensed site in Cardiff which was used for radiopharmaceutical manufacture and de-licensed in 2019. There was no reactor present on this site.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the hydroelectric output in Great Britain is generated in (1) England, (2) Wales, and (3) Scotland.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Hydroelectric power accounts for 2% of the UK’s electricity generation. A majority of hydroelectric output is generated in Scotland.
In 2023, annual figures show that:
3% of hydroelectricity was generated in England*
7% of hydroelectricity was generated in Wales*
90% of hydroelectricity was generated in Scotland*
Latest data available on hydroelectric generation is available via the DESNZ publication, Energy Trends December 2024, Table ET 6.1: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6762b0d6cdb5e64b69e30735/ET_6.1_DEC_24.xlsx. This table shows annual generation (latest data 2023) of hydroelectricity in GWh, by country, on which the above information is based.
*Rounded to the nearest hundred.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many residual coal tips they have identified in (1) England, (2) Wales and (3) Scotland which represent a potential safety hazard; and what progress has been made in establishing target dates for the completion of remedial action on each such registered hazard.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There are over 6,000 disused coal tips in Britain with 2,573 located in Wales. The majority of tips are in local authority or private ownership which includes legal responsibilities. Welsh Government released details of their work programme to address the tips issue including inspections/maintenance. https://www.gov.wales/coal-tip-safety
There is no central tips record in England or Scotland. The geological makeup of tip locations in Scotland and England, and previous reprofiling/restoration, has left a lower risk profile. The Mining Remediation Authority has contacted all Local Authorities reminding them of their responsibilities relating to the management of coal tips, offering support where required.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 19 November (HL2484), when they expect to announce the finalised terms for bids for new pump storage electricity generation projects, and when they expect final decisions on such bids to be made.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Finalised terms for applications to the Long Duration Electricity Storage (LDES) investment support scheme, which could include applications from Pumped Storage Hydro (PSH) projects, will be set out in a Technical Decision Document to be published in the first quarter of 2025.
Ofgem is the delivery body for the LDES investment support scheme and has informed Government that it intends to open the scheme to a first round of applications in the second quarter of 2025 and is working with the aim of making decisions on initial applications in early 2026.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many proposals they are currently considering from commercial organisations to construct pump storage hydro-electricity plants in Wales; in which year those proposals were first made; and when they anticipate reaching a conclusion on them.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As announced in October, the Government has decided to introduce an investment support scheme for long duration electricity storage (LDES) assets, including pumped storage hydro (PSH). This scheme will be delivered by Ofgem. We expect it to open for applications in 2025.
As the scheme has not yet opened, there are currently no formal proposals for Ofgem to consider. The Government is aware of interest in Welsh PSH and the potential for there to be some Welsh project applications in due course.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the results of the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6, which allocated 1.63 per cent of the total megawatts available to applicants from Wales, with which stakeholders in Wales they held discussions prior to reaching that decision.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Contracts for Difference scheme is geographically neutral and does not award contracts to projects based on regional quotas. All projects in Great Britain that met the eligibility criteria were able to apply into Allocation Round 6 (AR6). Eligible projects competed in an auction, run independently by National Grid ESO, designed to bring forward the most cost-effective projects in each delivery year.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the results for floating offshore wind project applications in the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6, on what basis were (1) 400 megawatts of contracts awarded to projects in Scotland, and (2) no contracts awarded to projects in Wales.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
All projects in Great Britain that met the eligibility criteria were able to apply into Allocation Round 6 (AR6). Eligible projects competed in an auction, run independently by National Grid ESO, designed to bring forward the most cost-effective projects in each delivery year. The scheme is geographically neutral and does not award contracts to projects based on regional quotas.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Great British Nuclear prior to their decision to rule out Trawsfynydd as a site for a small modular reactor.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Trawsfynydd has not been ruled out as a potential site for new nuclear and is one of a number of potential sites that could host new civil nuclear projects, subject to National planning policy, regulatory approvals and technical assessments. Decisions on the projects and technologies to be deployed at sites will be made in due course and Great British Nuclear continues to work with Government to support access to potential sites for new nuclear projects to achieve its long-term nuclear programme ambitions.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many universities in England have small nuclear reactors that are being used to develop or apply radiotherapy medical treatment.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There are currently no universities in England that have small nuclear fission reactors that are being used to develop or apply radiotherapy medical treatment.
It is critical that the UK continues to maintain access to the nuclear medicines it needs. In the 2024 Civil Nuclear Roadmap, the government committed to considering a research reactor and an accelerator in the next Spending Review to address the UK’s supply needs.
No decisions have yet been taken by the government to select one or more technology options.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of progress being made towards the development of nuclear fusion, and by what date they estimate that electricity generated in this manner may be available to consumers.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government’s STEP Programme, the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production, will design, develop, and build by the 2040s a prototype fusion power plant capable of delivering energy to the UK grid. The Government has already committed over £240 million towards the first phase of STEP which will develop a concept design for the prototype plant. Hosted in West Burton, Nottinghamshire, STEP will play an important role in demonstrating the commercial viability of fusion energy and galvanise the UK fusion sector. Fusion Energy is anticipated to play a significant role in the UK’s energy production from the 2050’s and beyond.