Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department plans to take to verify the proportion of wood burnt at Drax that is sustainable.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Monitoring and enforcement under the existing Renewables Obligation (RO) and Contract for Difference (CfD) schemes are the responsibility of the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) and Ofgem respectively, who conduct independent checks to ensure compliance with the sustainability requirements.
Under the new Low-Carbon Dispatchable CfD the monitoring, reporting and verification regime has been enhanced by extending LCCC’s audit rights across Drax’s global supply chain, increasing the audit standard from ‘limited’ to ‘reasonable’ assurance, and requiring sustainability data to be reported down to the level of individual pellet mill facilities. This will provide increased confidence that the biomass used is 100% sustainable.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what standards of forest sustainability are required of Drax for the supply of electricity to (a) private data centres and (b) the National Grid.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Drax must ensure its power generation complies with the terms of its subsidy agreements, currently provided for by the Renewables Obligation (RO) and Contract for Difference (CfD) schemes. These agreements include wide-ranging environmental protections addressing biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, legal and sustainable harvesting, and maintaining forest productivity, and require at least 70% of woody biomass to be sustainably sourced.
From 2027 these arrangements will be replaced by the new Low-Carbon Dispatchable CfD. This will require all of Drax’s generation to comply with strengthened sustainability standards, including an obligation to ensure that 100% of biomass used is sustainably sourced. We have also tightened the standard of supply chain greenhouse gas emissions and excluded primary feedstocks sourced from primary and old growth forests from receiving support payments.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether Drax is contractually required to disclose to the Government where the trees used in the pellets it purchases were cut down.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Biomass generators must currently comply with the reporting requirements of the Renewables Obligation and Contract for Difference (CfD). These include reporting sustainability profiling data for biomass which includes the country of purchase of each fuel consignment. From 2027 under the new Low-Carbon Dispatchable CfD, enhanced reporting obligations will require Drax to report the country of origin, including the identification of each processing plant within the supply chain.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that households do not face further rises in energy bills if the support announced in the recent Budget is not extended beyond the initial three-year period.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is funding the majority of the legacy Renewables Obligation for 3 full years, covering the period for which the Government set resource budgets at the Spending Review, while it takes steps to address the underlying issues of high bills.
Our clean power mission will get us off the rollercoaster of international gas prices, which remain more than double what they were in 2020. Any future funding will be considered in the next spending review in the usual way.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of whether the energy bill support measures announced in the recent Budget will cease after the stated three-year period.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is funding the majority of the legacy Renewables Obligation for 3 full years, covering the period for which the Government set resource budgets at the Spending Review, while it takes steps to address the underlying issues of high bills.
Our clean power mission will get us off the rollercoaster of international gas prices, which remain more than double what they were in 2020. Any future funding will be considered in the next spending review in the usual way.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of electricity demand from AI-related data centres on electricity prices.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to ensuring electricity networks can meet rising electricity demand, including from data centres, and to protecting consumer bills. Locating data centres where there is excess renewable generation could lower constraint costs, thereby reducing overall system costs and consumer bills. The Government has set up the AI Energy Council jointly chaired by the Secretary of State for DESNZ and Secretary of State for DSIT to look strategically at the energy case for AI and data centres across the UK.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the national security considerations relevant to renewable energy developments in proximity to defence sites.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government takes the security and resilience of UK energy infrastructure very seriously.
The Department collaborates with government departments – including the Ministry of Defence – other agencies and industry partners on a regular and ongoing basis to understand, assess and mitigate threats to both energy infrastructure and sensitive sites.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what guidance his Department provides to developers on national security considerations when selecting suppliers for critical energy infrastructure.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government takes the security and resilience of UK energy infrastructure very seriously.
The department works closely with other government departments, agencies and industry partners to understand, assess and mitigate threats to energy infrastructure.
Where necessary this includes written guidance, for example in relation to the Procurement Act 2023, or clear and robust regulatory standards, for example for cyber resilience through the Network and Information Systems Regulations.
The department is committed to working closely across Government and industry stakeholders to take forward the actions needed to develop supply chains that are resilient, sustainable, innovative and secure.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an assessment of the level of dependence on overseas suppliers for wind turbine components and its potential implications for energy security.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government takes the security and resilience of UK energy infrastructure very seriously.
The department is committed to working closely across Government and industry stakeholders to take forward the actions needed to develop supply chains that are resilient, sustainable, innovative and secure.
The Government is clear that the greatest risk to our energy security is from failing to decarbonise and continuing to be overly dependent on fossil fuels, exposing household bills to the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
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 national security implications of foreign-state-linked companies supplying components for renewable energy infrastructure.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government takes the security and resilience of UK energy infrastructure very seriously.
The department works closely with other government departments, agencies and industry partners to understand, assess and mitigate threats to energy infrastructure.
The department is committed to working closely across Government and industry stakeholders to take forward the actions needed to develop supply chains that are resilient, sustainable, innovative and secure.