Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether it is his policy to stop issuing development consents for all new oil and gas fields.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has committed that it will not revoke existing licences and will partner with business and workers to manage our existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan.
We have already consulted on revised environmental guidance for development consents to take into account emissions from burning extracted oil and gas to provide stability for industry.
This consultation closed in January, and we are working to have guidance in place as soon as possible.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the cost to the public purse was of legal services used by the Government in relation to potential Rosebank oil and gas field development since 4 July 2024; and whether further legal costs have been accounted for in his Department’s (a) current and (b) future budgets.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department has paid a total of £26,773 in legal fees relating to the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields since 4 July 2024.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
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 the oil and gas sector contributes to meeting global climate targets.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK is committed to transitioning away from fossil fuels and meeting global climate targets.
The Government supports action on decarbonising oil and gas production and is consulting on new guidance to ensure the impact of burning oil and gas is considered in the Environmental Impact Assessment for new projects. The Government will consult on its commitment to not issue new oil and gas licences to explore new fields, in due course.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department plans to publish a consultation on licences to explore new oil and gas fields.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government will consult on its commitment to not issue new oil and gas licences to explore new fields in due course.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of opening new oil and gas fields in the North Sea on the Paris Agreement goal to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
At COP28, the UK and others agreed to transition away from fossil fuels in an orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade. This is essential to keep the global temperature limit of 1.5°C within reach. The Government has acted swiftly to consult on new environmental guidance for oil and gas firms to ensure that the impact of burning oil and gas is considered in the Environmental Impact Assessment for new projects.
The Government will consult on the implementation of its manifesto position, not to issue new oil and gas licences to explore new fields, in due course.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2025 to Question 21077 on Ithaca Energy: Occupied Territories, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of reports that the Rosebank oil field’s minority owner is owned by a firm operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There are no current plans to make such assessment.
We routinely update our guidance to British businesses on the Overseas Business Risk website.
We advise British businesses to bear in mind the British Government's view on the illegality of settlements under international law when considering their investments and activities in the region.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has had discussions with the Foreign Secretary about the potential implications for his Department’s policies of reports the Rosebank oil field’s minority owner is owned by a firm operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State has regular discussions with Ministerial Colleagues on a number of issues.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
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 it his policy to retain the Acoustic Fish Deterrent aspect of the Development Consent Order to the Hinkley Point C (Nuclear Generating Station) Order 2013.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) Minister cannot enter into a discussion on this area. This will be a quasi-judicial decision to be taken by a DESNZ Minister under the Planning Act 2008, based only on the facts, evidence and arguments made in the case as presented to us once it has been through the formal planning process.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2024 to Question 7946 on Sizewell C Power Station: Compensation, what (a) output in MWh his Department has assumed for Hinkley Point C and (b) discounting rate has been applied for sharing First-of-a-Kind costs with Hinkley Point C over the first 35 years of its lifetime; and whether the cost of the discounting rate is included in expenditure eligible for a Sizewell C Regulated Asset Base.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
EDF’s assumed maximum capacity of HPC is 3.2GW, overlaid with assumptions for planned and unplanned outages. There isn’t a specific discounting rate applied to the First-of-a-Kind cost sharing. Instead, the payment for this cost sharing is included in the forecast expenditure eligible for the SZC RAB, along with other eligible project costs; and the consumer costs, driven by the RAB, are discounted at the applicable Social Discount Rate used in the Government’s Value for Money assessment of the SZC project.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the first bullet point on page 23 of EDF Energy Holdings Limited Annual Report and Financial Statements 31 December 2023, what estimate he has made of the amount of compensation that will be paid from Sizewell C to Hinkley Point C; and how that cost will be allocated between (a) private investors, (b) the UK Government and (c) electricity consumers.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under the terms of a contractual agreement between HPC and SZC, which was agreed at the time of the Final Investment Decision on HPC, a payment is payable from SZC to HPC if SZC takes a positive FID. This payment reflects benefits for SZC, including the significant learning and ‘avoided First-of-a-Kind’ costs that SZC will gain from being a ‘second-of-a-kind’ replica of HPC.
The payment would be financed by the investors in SZC and would be added to the cost base of SZC, and is therefore included in the Government’s Value for Money assessment of the SZC project.
The value of the payment to HPC is intended to be broadly equal to £3/MWh in Net Present Value terms, reflecting the size of the reduction in the strike price at HPC if a positive FID on SZC is taken.
Taking into account the lower HPC strike price, the overall effect of the payment on GB electricity consumers would be broadly neutral.