Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she accepts the conclusion in ADE: Demand's No Home Left Behind that low-income households are effectively paying five times more than wealthier families for clean heat; and what immediate steps she will take to close that gap.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Through the Warm Homes Plan (WHP), the Government is rolling out cost-effective, clean energy technologies that reduce bills including solar, batteries, and heat pumps.
Low-income households can access fully-funded grant support through the Warm Homes: Local Grant and the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund where the grants will cover the full cost of measures installed including heating system upgrades. A total of £4.4 billion has been put aside for low-income schemes up to 2030.
Additionally, universal grants of up to £9,000 are available for heat pump installations through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and the WHP also committed to a brand-new scheme offering low interest, government-backed consumer loans supported with £2 billion of public funding.
We’re also taking direct action to reduce energy bills including removing VAT charges on electricity bills, removing policy costs at the last Budget worth an average of £150 per year, and expanding the Warm Homes Discount to six million households last winter and confirming that level of support for the rest of the decade.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of the ADE: Heat Networks Cost of Heat Research recommendation for a targeted electricity discount.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
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As we set out in the Warm Homes Plan, we will need to go further to reduce electricity prices for heat networks. The government intends to consult on options to reduce costs and make electrification an economically rational choice for a wider range of businesses and organisations.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the ADE: Heat Networks Cost of Heat Research, what consideration she has given to the role of strategic zoning in reducing the cost of heat for consumers.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As set out in the Warm Homes Plan, heat network zoning in England (and the establishment of local Zone Coordination Bodies) will help to lay the groundwork for a more place-based approach to heat. Zoning gives local government greater certainty on where district heat networks will be the cheapest option in their area, and the tools to designate and drive these zones into delivery.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the ADE: Heat Networks Cost of Heat Research, what estimate her Department has made of the potential cost impact on consumers of not capturing heat wasted from data centres and other sources.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Data centres will be an important source of low-carbon heat for heat networks. DESNZ has agreed to fund several projects across England where heat is being recovered from data centres because they can offer very low-cost heat which would otherwise go to waste. Through heat network zoning, certain types of buildings and low-carbon heat sources can be required to connect to a network, helping unlock low-cost waste heat from sources such as industry and data centres.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the findings of the ADE: Heat Networks Cost of Heat Research, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to create a level playing field on carbon for the heat network sector.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We thank the ADE for their research. The government is clear that zoning will support the development of low-cost, low-carbon heat networks across England. We recognise that some heat networks will need time to meet the zoning emissions limits that will be required to develop in zones; that is why we have set the emissions limit to come into force from 2030. Funding is available through the Green Heat Network Fund to support the development of new low-carbon heat networks, or the decarbonisation of existing heat networks.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the ADE: Demand report entitled Powered by People, Powered by Place, whether his Department plans to provide guidance on the expectations for reliability and planning for demand flexibility as compared with traditional infrastructure assets within Regional Energy Strategic Plans frameworks.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has noted and is considering the recommendations in the Association for Decentralised Energy's report, Powered by People, Powered by Place.
Responsibility for the development of Regional Energy Strategic Plans (RESPs) and the associated governance arrangements sits with the National Energy System Operator (NESO), under Ofgem's policy framework and guidance. Following their consultation, NESO is currently finalising the RESP methodology. DESNZ Secretary of State and Ofgem are due to review and approve the methodology in due course.
RESPs are intended to support whole-system planning across electricity, gas, heat and hydrogen networks at the distribution level, and consider industrial energy demand, heat networks, storage and flexibility.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the ADE: Demand report entitled Powered by People, Powered by Place, what steps he is taking to help ensure that technologies which deliver whole system savings, such as thermal storage and industrial flexibility, are able to access those savings.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has noted and is considering the recommendations in the Association for Decentralised Energy's report, Powered by People, Powered by Place.
Responsibility for the development of Regional Energy Strategic Plans (RESPs) and the associated governance arrangements sits with the National Energy System Operator (NESO), under Ofgem's policy framework and guidance. Following their consultation, NESO is currently finalising the RESP methodology. DESNZ Secretary of State and Ofgem are due to review and approve the methodology in due course.
RESPs are intended to support whole-system planning across electricity, gas, heat and hydrogen networks at the distribution level, and consider industrial energy demand, heat networks, storage and flexibility.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the ADE: Demand report entitled Powered by People, Powered by Place, whether his Department has plans to ensure that Regional Energy Strategic Plans support industrial sites to optioneer decarbonisation routes.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has noted and is considering the recommendations in the Association for Decentralised Energy's report, Powered by People, Powered by Place.
Responsibility for the development of Regional Energy Strategic Plans (RESPs) and the associated governance arrangements sits with the National Energy System Operator (NESO), under Ofgem's policy framework and guidance. Following their consultation, NESO is currently finalising the RESP methodology. DESNZ Secretary of State and Ofgem are due to review and approve the methodology in due course.
RESPs are intended to support whole-system planning across electricity, gas, heat and hydrogen networks at the distribution level, and consider industrial energy demand, heat networks, storage and flexibility.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, who are able to apply for Local Power Plans.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The DESNZ/GBE Local Power Plan is designed to engage a wide range of stakeholders and participants including community energy organisations, local authorities as well as investors and lenders. The initial entry route for those seeking support is typically through a Great British Energy Expression of Interest (EOI). This is open to communities and local authorities to submit project ideas for support. This EOI is GBE’s first step toward coordinated engagement on local and community power, to build a shared understanding of what projects are emerging across the country. Great British Energy is developing further schemes, with more information available this year.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what analysis his Department has undertaken of the potential impacts of co-locating WECCS (waste-energy carbon capture and storage) with EfW (energy-from-waste) plants on regional energy systems and grid infrastructure, including any potential to reduce the need for new grid connections.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) is fundamental to the deep decarbonisation of industries such as EfW. CCUS is the only net zero compliant technology for many types of plants in the residual waste management sector.
The residential waste sector also has a high percentage of biogenic CO2, which if captured have the potential to create greenhouse gas removals.
CCUS technology requires energy to power the facility, and therefore the energy balance of an energy-from-waste (EfW) facility is expected to be impacted by the deployment of CCUS. These impacts will vary depending on the facility, notably whether the EfW facility is new or whether CCUS is being retrofitted on an existing site.