Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of setting a one gigawatt deployment target for tidal stream energy for 2035.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government will continue to review the merits of setting a target for tidal stream deployment and will continue to engage with stakeholders on this.
Tidal stream is a home-grown industry of considerable promise, and the UK remains the world leader in tidal stream generation technologies, with over half of the world's deployment of this innovation situated in UK waters.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the minimum ringfence for Tidal Stream projects to £30 million for Allocation Round 6 of the upcoming Contracts for Difference auction.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The minimum budget for tidal stream was set in March at £10m.
The Secretary of State will confirm his decision on whether to increase the AR6 budget by 1st August, before the AR6 bidding window opens.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he plans to take to ensure domestic manufactured content is embedded in tidal stream projects.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government continues to engage with tidal stream industry on maintaining high levels of UK content in tidal stream projects.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions she has had with the Construction Industry Council on decarbonising the cement industry.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Officials have regular discussions with the Green Construction Board and with other bodies on a range of issues relating to the decarbonisation of cement. The Government is committed to exploring opportunities to decarbonise this critical foundation material and regularly engages with the Mineral Products Association and the sector to discuss the challenges and opportunities involved in decarbonisation, and potential ways forward. The Department for Business and Trade is working with the Construction Leadership Council, with a key priority being net zero and biodiversity, to support use of lower carbon materials and products such as cement and concrete in the construction sector.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding to support the development of the low-carbon cement sector.
Answered by Graham Stuart
My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State regularly discusses a range of issues with my Rt hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer. Carbon Capture Usage and Storage will be crucial for decarbonisation of industries, such as cement, which otherwise lack viable alternatives to achieve deep decarbonisation. CCUS and low carbon hydrogen are vital to transforming these sectors. In March, the Chancellor announced £20 billion investment in the early development of CCUS to help meet the Government’s climate commitments. The Government is taking forward the Hanson Padeswood Cement Works to proceed to negotiations for support under the Industrial Carbon Capture business model.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she plans to take to incentivise the development of low-carbon cement technologies.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Phase 2 of the Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator (IEEA) supported projects to develop energy and resource efficiency technology in cement, worth a total of £720,000 in grant funding. Over £13 million in funding has been awarded from UKRI’s Innovate Transforming Foundation Industry Challenge for decarbonisation projects in the cement sector, including over £2.6m to Cemex to look at the valorization of contaminated waste glass to produce low carbon cements at its Rugby plant. The Department for Energy security and Net Zero is also undertaking research to explore barriers and opportunities for the adoption of low carbon, resource efficient materials in the construction sector.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a 50% increase in Administrative Strike Prices; and whether an increase in those Prices applies to all renewable technologies in Allocation Round 6.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government reviews auction parameters, including Administrative Strike Prices, ahead of every Contracts for Difference allocation round. Considering recent price volatility and that no offshore wind technologies were successful in Allocation Round 5, the Government has conducted a thorough review of its cost assumptions ahead of Allocation Round 6. The Government will set parameters that reflect the Contracts for Difference scheme’s objective to encourage low-carbon generation whilst considering net zero commitments, energy security and the likely cost to consumers. Core parameters for Allocation Round 6 will be published in November 2023.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how her Department plans to take into account changes in the level of costs when setting the Administrative Strike Price for renewable technologies in Allocation Round 6 of the Contracts for Difference.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government reviews auction parameters, including Administrative Strike Prices, ahead of every Contracts for Difference allocation round. Considering recent price volatility and that no offshore wind technologies were successful in Allocation Round 5, the Government has conducted a thorough review of its cost assumptions ahead of Allocation Round 6. The Government will set parameters that reflect the Contracts for Difference scheme’s objective to encourage low-carbon generation whilst considering net zero commitments, energy security and the likely cost to consumers. Core parameters for Allocation Round 6 will be published in November 2023.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, which solid fuel suppliers his Department consulted in the development of the Alternative Fuels Payment scheme.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Government regularly engages with consumer groups, industry bodies, and other stakeholders, including fuel suppliers, and is working with them to spread the message to alternative fuel users. For example, fuel distributors have provided their customers with information about this scheme.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will publish the modelling used to select households that receive payments under the Alternative Fuel Payment scheme.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
Details on how the Department determined which households received an automatic Alternative Fuel Payment can be found in Section 3 of the Domestic Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP) scheme in Great Britain: guidance for electricity suppliers:
This includes links to relevant data, where available.