Asked by: Harry Harpham (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the cost to the public purse was of developing proposals for a new carbon capture and storage project at Peterhead.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Government continues to view CCS as having a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors and we are engaging closely with the Peterhead developer and wider CCS industry. The Department has paid £28.5 million between 2011/12 and November 2015 on developing proposals for a new carbon capture and storage project at Peterhead. This included the investment in Front End Engineering and Design work to determine the cost and feasibility of the project, independent professional technical, legal, financial and commercial advice and civil service staff.
Asked by: Harry Harpham (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the cost to the public purse was of developing proposals for a new carbon capture and storage project in Yorkshire.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Government continues to view CCS as having a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors and we are engaging closely with the White Rose developer and wider CCS industry. The Department has paid around £31 million between 2011/12 and November 2015 on developing proposals for the White Rose carbon capture and storage project in Yorkshire. This included the investment in Front End Engineering and Design to determine the cost and feasibility of the project, independent professional technical, legal, financial and commercial advice and civil service staff.
Asked by: Harry Harpham (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the total cost to the public purse had been of developing carbon capture and storage technology.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Government continues to view CCS as having a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors and has invested over £222 million since 2011 in developing carbon capture and storage technology, including approximately £130 million through our support to new technologies and research to help develop new capture technologies to reduce costs. The latest investment includes £1.7 million for three innovative CCS technologies awarded through Energy Entrepreneurs Fund and £2.5 million to identify suitable CO2 stores in the North and Irish Seas.
Government has also supported industry to complete detailed engineering and design work on CCS project proposals to determine their cost and feasibility, ensuring that knowledge gained is made freely available to benefit future CCS projects and aid research and development in CCS technology.
Asked by: Harry Harpham (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effect on private sectors investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS) of the Government's decision to end the CCS fund.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The UK is widely seen to be one of the most stable markets due to its attractive risk and return profile, world class regulation, transparent policy development, strong financial markets and clear property rights for investors.
Our view remains that CCS has a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK. We are engaging closely with the two bidders and wider CCS industry on both the implications for them of the decision to withdraw the CCS Competition’s ring-fenced capital budget, and the future of CCS in the UK. As part of this engagement, Government held a meeting of the joint industry/Government CCS Development Forum, co-chaired by Minister of State, in December 2015.
Asked by: Harry Harpham (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether developers of carbon capture and storage projects can access funding through the Levy Control Framework.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
Generators who meet the requirements set out in the Contracts for Difference (Definition of Eligible Generator) Regulations 2014 are eligible for a Contract for Difference, funded through the Levy Control Framework. Contracts for Difference for CCS are awarded on direction of the Secretary of State. Whether or not the Secretary of State would consider awarding a CfDs to a specific project would be subject to the circumstances at the time, including factors such as the value for money and affordability of a project and competing demands on available budgets.
Asked by: Harry Harpham (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which coal-fired power stations her Department expects to close before 2020.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
Decisions to close power stations are taken by their owners based on market conditions. The owners of Longannet, Lynemouth and Ferrybridge have announced their intention to stop generating by March 2016. The owners of Eggborough (2GW) have announced they may close by March 2016. Following the European Commission’s approval of state aid in December 2015 followed by its sale, EPH are converting Lynemouth to biomass. We expect this process to take about 18 months.
Asked by: Harry Harpham (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps the Government is taking to phase out the use of coal-fired power stations by 2025.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
We will launch a consultation shortly on proposals to close all unabated coal-fired power stations. Our consultation will set out proposals to close coal by 2025, and restrict its use from 2023. If we were to take this step, we would be one of the first developed countries to deliver on a commitment to take coal off the system.
Asked by: Harry Harpham (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with the European Commission on the future of the White Rose Carbon Capture and Storage project.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
Officials in the Department hold regular discussions with Commission officials on Carbon Capture and Storage, including the future of the White Rose project.
Asked by: Harry Harpham (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many days of gas supply are available from the gas storage facilities.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The UK has a high level of gas security, provided through our diverse range of gas supplies, including domestic production, pipeline imports from Norway and mainland EU, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from global markets and storage. It is therefore misleading to talk about gas storage in terms of ‘days available’ because of this mix. Both physical system constraints and market processes mean storage could only be one part of the overall gas mix on any winter’s day.
Total gas infrastructure in GB can currently deliver around 700 million cubic meters a day, which is more than double average winter daily demand. Average winter demand is 290 million cubic meters a day and while storage amounts fluctuate, it is currently around 3500 million cubic meters.
Asked by: Harry Harpham (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England on the contents of the planned Clinical Commissioning Groups' (CCG) Scorecard; and what steps he has taken to ensure that the CCG's scorecard secures improved outcomes for people on the autism spectrum.
Answered by George Freeman
The King’s Fund published their report on a CCG scorecard, Measuring the Performance of Local Health Systems
(http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/articles/measuring-performance-local-health-systems), on 12 October. The King’s Fund recommends that the scorecard should comprise a small number of headline indicators targeted at the public; a broader set of indicators on performance in delivering national priorities; and a wide set of indicators for local health systems to use for improvement.
The Department will publish further details of how it will work with NHS England to implement the scorecard in due course.