Energy: Storage

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Excerpts

Wednesday 1st February 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, if there is any issue about availability of supplies from France, it probably relates more to the fact that a number of France’s nuclear plants are nearing the end of their lives than to anything that comes out of Brexit. In fact, as the noble Lord may know, we are investing in more interconnector capacity, which would increase the capacity from 2,200 megawatts to more than 7,000 megawatts. Again, that should reduce the cost of electricity to our consumers.

[Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)]

My Lords, I do not hear the Government talking much about microgeneration, which provides a real opportunity to get local people to invest. Is that something that the Minister’s department is looking at?

[Lord Prior of Brampton]

My Lords, again, the development of battery technology and electric vehicles means that every consumer in the country could become a small generator in due course and be able not only to take electricity from the grid during downtimes but also to feed back energy from their electric car or their own battery in their own home during peak times. We are looking at, I think, a revolution in the way that we manage electricity in this country.