Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
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 implications for UK energy grid procurement policies of the Strider report on US grid dependency on Chinese components.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The protection and security of the energy sector is an absolute priority of this Government. My 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. Investment in the energy sector is subject to the highest levels of national security scrutiny – we take a consistent, long-term and strategic approach to managing relations with China and will co-operate where we can, compete where we need to, and challenge where we must.
As an open economy, we welcome foreign trade and investment where it supports growth and jobs in the UK, meets our stringent legal and regulatory requirements, and does not compromise our national security.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
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 adequacy of the procurement and contract‑management processes used for the Fuel Finder project; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that public money allocated to this project has been spent effectively and provides value for money.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
A competitive and open tender process was run for Fuel Finder in line with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and government procurement policies and guidance. Evaluation criteria included quality, technical criteria and total cost.
The Fuel Finder contract is managed in line with the Government Digital Service Standard and is overseen by Departmental project boards, following established governance arrangements and spend assurance processes that apply to all major digital and commercial projects.
All of the above are steps taken to ensure an effective implementation and the project will continue to be reviewed to ensure value for money, minimising and managing costs carefully.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will take steps with the Office for Product Safety and Standards to ensure that regulations and repairability indexes for small electrical devices promote not only professional repair services but also end-user self-repair.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products and Energy Information Regulations 2021 require manufacturers of a number of products to provide certain spare parts to end-users as well as professional repairers. The Government continues to review ecodesign and energy labelling regulations for other small electrical devices as part of our ongoing programme of work. We are committed to introducing repairability measures, including those designed to support end-users, where doing so is appropriate.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether GB Energy has a role in the decarbonising of pre-existing housing stock.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Great British Energy will develop, invest in, build, and operate clean energy projects across the UK. The Government is supporting decarbonisation of housing stock through other initiatives.
We have committed £3.4 billion over the next 3 years to the Warm Homes Plan, and across 2025 to 2026, we will oversee approximately £3.2 billion of investment in warmer homes.
This will include around £1 billion as part of our Warm Homes Plan, and other funding from social housing providers and obligations from suppliers. This could facilitate up to 300,000 homes to benefit from upgrades next year, helping reduce energy bills and deliver warmer homes that are cleaner to heat.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to encourage the connection of residential developments to district heating schemes.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Committee for Climate Change has recommended the government grows the heat network sector from providing 3% of national heat demand to 20% by 2050.
To deliver this ambition we are transforming the heat network market through policies like heat network zoning, which identifies areas of England where heat networks are expected to be the lowest cost solution for decarbonising heat.
Through heat network zoning, certain types of buildings including communally heated residential buildings could be required to connect to a network within a prescribed timeframe.
This will allow for large-scale strategic heat networks to be built in towns and cities across the country.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
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 Written Statement of 24 January 2025 on Plutonium Disposition Strategy, HCWS388, if he will publish the basis for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s recommendation to immobilise the UK plutonium stockpile.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) conducted substantial technical, deliverability and economic analysis to identify a preferred option for a long-term disposition solution, considering options for immobilisation and reuse of the material as fuel. It is not intended for the NDA analysis to be made publicly available due to commercial sensitivity and safeguarding national security.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
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 Written Statement of 6 February 2025 on Consenting and Regulation of Nuclear Energy, HCWS419, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using the UK’s plutonium stockpile to support the delivery of the Government’s policies on nuclear power.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has published a refreshed planning framework for new nuclear reactors (EN-7), including small and advanced modular reactors, for consultation. The new planning framework proposes to empower nuclear developers to identify potentially suitable sites in real-time against a robust set of siting criteria.
Plans for Government policies on nuclear power were taken into account when making the decision on plutonium disposition. All current reactor projects use uranium oxide fuel. In addition, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) conducted substantial technical, deliverability and economic analysis to identify a preferred option for a long-term disposition solution for the UK-owned plutonium, considering options for immobilisation and reuse of the material as fuel. Immobilisation is the solution that will place the material beyond reach soonest and with greatest delivery confidence. This is a key step towards dealing with our nuclear legacy and not passing the burden on to future generations.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
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 merits of using the UK’s plutonium stockpile to generate electricity.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) conducted substantial technical, deliverability and economic analysis to identify a preferred option for a long-term disposition solution for the UK-owned plutonium, considering options for immobilisation and reuse of the material as fuel to generate electricity. The outcome of this work recommended immobilisation as the preferred way forward to put the material beyond reach soonest and with greatest delivery confidence.
The plutonium cannot be used as fuel in its current form: new infrastructure for Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel production would be required, as well as new reprocessing capabilities to sustain a closed fuel cycle. A proportion of the material is unsuitable for reuse in reactors and requires immobilisation in any scenario.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
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 pause to the applications process for new entrants to the connections queue from 29 January 2025 announced by the National Energy Systems Operator on 15 January 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of this decision on (a) data centre projects and (b) energy-intensive infrastructure projects.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The short pause on connection applications is a necessary, transitional step in delivering fundamental connections reforms that, if approved by Ofgem, could reduce the connections queue by up to half and will enable accelerated connections for many generation and demand projects. The pause does not apply to demand projects and therefore will not impact data centre or energy-intensive infrastructure projects.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to Great British Energy's press release, Negotiations begin for UK’s small modular reactor programme, published on 11 November 2024, what steps he is taking to help ensure decisions on the UK small modular reactor programme are not delayed beyond spring 2025.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As announced at the Autumn Budget, Great British Nuclear is driving forward the small modular reactor competition for UK deployment and is negotiating with four shortlisted companies. Once negotiations have concluded, the companies will be invited to submit final tenders, which GBN will then evaluate. Final decisions will be taken in the spring.
GBN is resourced to deliver the SMR competition and is working to a timeline that enables a robust process underpinned by fairness and transparency, to ensure any selected technology provides best value for money.