Clean Energy Transition Guidance

Baroness Scott of Needham Market Excerpts

Tuesday 8th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

The Mozambique project is one of huge controversy. It was supported by UK Export Finance in July 2020 under previous policies and would not be approved today. It has now contractually committed to that support. UKEF will continue to monitor that situation closely. All support provided by UKEF has been in line with the scope of the new policy since March, which ends new direct financial or promotional support for the fossil fuel energy sector, other than in the limited circumstances I have outlined. It aligns support with clean energy.

[Baroness Scott of Needham Market (LD) [V]]

My Lords, one of the many exemptions to the policy is for countries that do not have a reliable or complete electricity grid—for example, Nigeria, where the UK recently invested in a gas and diesel power company. Do the Government intend to put an end date on this exemption or will we continue to support fossil fuel-generated power indefinitely?

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

I know that there are agreements in the policy to review it at certain intervals and I suspect that we will allow these exemptions until the next policy review. But, as I said, there are 600 million people in Africa with no access to electricity, and we cannot hold back development where we can assist by providing some form of grid or power system in the interim.