Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to support future UK spaceflight launches.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government remains committed to making the UK the leading provider of commercial small satellite launch in Europe by 2030, with all the necessary infrastructure and regulations now in place to support this. £50 million has been provided to grow new UK markets for small satellite launch and sub-orbital spaceflight, with £31.5 million helping to establish vertical launch services in Scotland. This includes supporting Orbex to launch from Sutherland and Lockheed Martin to launch from the Shetland Islands. Both launches are expected to take place in 2024, with other spaceports in development across Scotland and in Wales.
The UK Space Agency is now developing the next phase of the UK Spaceflight Programme, subject to HM Treasury approval. In addition, the UK invested £12 million into the next phase of the European Space Agency’s Boost programme at the ESA Council of Ministers 2022, aimed at providing tailored support to national launch companies and related infrastructure.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help support the space industry in Wales.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government is committed to growing and levelling up the UK space ecosystem. Since 2014, the UK Space Agency has invested over £7 million through its national and European Space Agency programmes to support space companies in Wales develop new and innovative technologies, including Space Forge who have built Wales’s first satellite. In addition, the Agency also invests significantly in academic R&D institutions in Wales, which stimulate and enable industry spin-out companies and applications in other sectors. This includes the £16.5 million investment in the Cardiff University-led SPIRE instrument aboard the ESA science observatory mission Herschel and up to £2.5 million planned funding in the Ariel mission, as part of the £30 million package announced last year.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to help support the (a) establishment and (b) growth of the small satellite manufacturing sector.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government has a long record of supporting the UK satellite manufacturing sector, and the UK space sector now excels in satellite manufacture, which includes some of world’s leading small satellite companies such as SSTL and AAC Clydespace.
Through our £1.8 billion investment in ESA programmes and £1 billion via UK agency this CSR, the Government continues to support R&D work with these and many other companies such as OpenCosmos, Alba Orbital, InSpace Missions, Orbital Astronautics and Space Forge which are developing innovative nano and microsats. The Government further supports the sector through regulatory leadership in small satellite insurance, finance and licensing as part of our aim to become the leading provider of commercial small satellite launch in Europe by 2030. Significant commercial opportunities such as the OneWeb second generation constellation offer potential to further strengthen the UK’s small satellite sector.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support his Department plans to provide to off-grid businesses on increased energy costs.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has announced the Non-Domestic Alternative Fuel Payment Scheme, which will provide off-grid businesses and non-domestic consumers using alternative fuels in Great Britain and Northern Ireland with a one-off fixed payment of £150 through electricity suppliers. In addition to the £150, a top up payment will be available for large users of heating oil (kerosene) to take account of their higher usage. These top-up payments will require an application to a delivery body and will be banded based on level of usage.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what additional support his Department plans to make available for off-grid care pubs and hospitality businesses on increased energy costs.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Non-domestic consumers off the gas grid will receive a one-off fixed payment of £150 through electricity suppliers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. A top-up payment in addition to the £150 will be available for large users of heating oil (kerosene) in GB and NI to take account of their higher usage. These top-up payments will require an application to a delivery body and will be banded based on level of usage.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much Government support has been provided in subsidies to the (a) marine, (b) wind, (c) biomass and (d) solar energy sectors in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Support for the generation of renewable electricity is paid under three schemes: The Renewables Obligation (RO), the Feed-in Tariffs (FIT), and Contracts for Difference (CfD) schemes.
The Renewables Obligation does not pay a direct subsidy but instead support is provided through tradeable certificates.
Support for renewable heat is provided through the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) which is funded through general taxation.
The table below gives a breakdown of support for electricity generation and renewable heat from marine, wind, biomass and solar technologies in Great Britain. The CfD, FITs & GB RHI schemes are not available in Northern Ireland.
Year | Scheme+ |
| Support for electricity generation and renewable heat (in £m) | |||||
Marine | Offshore wind | Onshore wind | Biomass | Solar Thermal | Solar PV | |||
2010/11 | RO | 0.01 | 258.0 | 360.1 | 248.1 | - | 0.03 | |
| CfD | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| RHI | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
2011/12 | RO | 0.02 | 371.3 | 450.9 | 255.2 | - | 0.1 | |
| CfD | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| RHI | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | |
2012/13 | RO | 0.03 | 696.3 | 494.7 | 385.4 | - | 0.8 | |
| CfD | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| RHI | - | - | - | 15 |
| - | |
2013/14 | RO | 0.2 | 1,022.6 | 731.5 | 484.3 | - | 36.3 | |
| CfD | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| RHI | - | - | - | 49 |
| - | |
2014/15 | RO | 0.2 | 1,107.7 | 704.9 | 737.5 | - | 134.9 | |
| CfD | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| RHI | - | - | - | 138 | 1 | - | |
2015/16 | RO | - | 1,496.8 | 805.5 | 932.0 | - | 304.0 | |
| CfD | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| RHI | - | - | - | 239 | 2 | - | |
2016/17 | RO | 0.1 | 1,533.7 | 892.8 | 953.6 | - | 416.4 | |
| CfD | - | - | - | 91.8 | - | 0.4 | |
| RHI | - | - | - | 289 | 2 | - | |
2017/18 | RO | 1.8 | 2,008.6 | 1,256.2 | 864.7 | - | 471.1 | |
| CfD | - | 295.8 | - | 247.3 | - | 0.8 | |
| RHI | - | - | - | 368 | 3 | - | |
2018/19 | RO | 2.6 | 2,220.5 | 1,334.9 | 1,079.9 | - | 548.5 | |
| CfD | - | 587.6 | 11.3 | 380.2 | - | 0.8 | |
| RHI | - | - | - | 394 | 3 | - | |
2019/20 | RO* | 3.4 | 2,212.2 | 1,270.9 | 981.1 | - | 459.9 | |
| CfD |
| 1,276.1 | 88.7 | 442.0 | - | 1.4 | |
| RHI | - | - | - | 428 | 3 | - | |
Notes
*The RO figures are based on Ofgem’s certificate report as of 4 August 2020 from their Renewables and CHP Register.
* The RO figures for 2019/20 are provisional as not all the certificates have been issued yet and the full notional value of each certificate is not yet known.
* The figures for FITs are not available as they cannot be broken down by technology.
*RHI payments are made to scheme participants using eligible renewable heating technologies. The RHI figures above relate to both the Domestic and Non-Domestic RHI schemes.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the resilience of the National Grid as part of the UK's transition to net zero.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The UK has one of the most robust energy systems in the world. Maintaining a safe and secure energy supply is a key priority for this Government.
We work closely with the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO), electricity operators, and Ofgem, to ensure our electricity and gas systems are able to respond to new challenges, including the transition to net zero, whilst continuing to ensure resilience.
In April 2019, the ESO published its plan to fully operate Great Britain’s electricity system with zero carbon by 2025 and is undertaking a number of projects to explore how this can be achieved.
The Government will continue to work with the ESO to ensure that this is delivered in a manner that ensures the stability and security of the electricity system.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of UK households have smart meters fitted.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Smart meters are replacing traditional gas and electricity meters in Great Britain as part of an essential infrastructure upgrade to make the energy system more efficient, flexible and ensure cost effective delivery of net zero.
Thirty-nine percent of meters in homes across Great Britain were smart meters as of 30 June 2020. The latest data on the rollout of smart meters is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/smart-meters-in-great-britain-quarterly-update-june-2020. The next quarterly publication covering the period from July to end of September 2020 is due for release on 26 November.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the regulated asset-based financing model for funding new nuclear power stations.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government is looking at options for the financing of new nuclear projects. A Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model has the potential to reduce the cost of raising private finance for new nuclear projects, thereby reducing consumer bills and maximising value for money for consumers and taxpayers. In 2019, we consulted on our proposals for a nuclear RAB model and we will publish our response in due course.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the proportion of the UK's energy that will be supplied from (a) nuclear, (b) wind, (c) biomass, (d) solar, and (e) tidal sources over the next (i) five, (ii) 10 and (iii) 20 years.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Department has published projections of electricity generation by source for the UK which can be used to derive the proportion of total UK electricity supply supplied by nuclear and renewable sources, respectively. These are shown in the table below.
For commercial reasons we do not release any breakdown of renewables projections. Officials need to work in a private space to determine auction parameters for each CfD round to ensure competitive tension. Providing a more granular/annual deployment trajectory for specific technologies could distort auction outcomes.
Proportion of UK electricity supply (gross) excluding net imports[1]
Year | Nuclear | Renewables[2] |
2021 | 21% | 44% |
2022 | 21% | 47% |
2023 | 19% | 51% |
2024 | 13% | 54% |
2025 | 15% | 57% |
2026 | 19% | 58% |
2027 | 20% | 58% |
2028 | 19% | 57% |
2029 | 17% | 57% |
2030 | 18% | 58% |
2031 | 20% | 59% |
2032 | 20% | 59% |
2033 | 20% | 58% |
2034 | 19% | 58% |
2035 | 20% | 58% |
2036 | 24% | 57% |
2037 | 27% | 55% |
2038 | 26% | 55% |
2039 | 26% | 56% |
2040 | 26% | 56% |
The figures are based on central estimates of economic growth and fossil fuel prices and contains all agreed policies where decisions on policy design are sufficiently advanced to allow robust estimates of impact as at August 2019. Further details can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/energy-and-emissions-projections. Figures provided are derived from BEIS Energy and Emissions Projections (EEP) 2019 Annex J, Total electricity generation by source.
[1] For this calculation total UK electricity supply is defined as including generation from storage but excluding net imports of electricity.
[2] Includes a small amount of generation from non-renewable wastes.