Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to take steps to increase the (a) grid and (b) local cable capacities in order to better facilitate (i) more electric cars in the UK and (b) demand for domestic heating.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is committed to accelerating the delivery of electricity network infrastructure to accommodate new sources of clean electricity generation and demand, as set out, jointly with Ofgem, in the Electricity Networks Strategic Framework.
Ofgem’s upcoming distribution network price control provides £22.2bn in baseline funding including £3.1bn for network upgrades, supporting the expected uptake in electric vehicles and heat pumps. Large upfront funding, combined with an agile price control system for net zero related expenditure, should enable the investment in network infrastructure needed to facilitate heat and transport electrification.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he will take to increase the level of car manufacturing in the UK.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Government is determined to ensure the UK continues to be a highly attractive location for automotive investment and manufacturing.
In the last couple of years alone, we have seen Nissan and Envision invest £1 billion to create an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing hub in Sunderland, a £2.5 billion investment by Bentley in Crewe, and £380 million by Ford to make Halewood their first European EV components site.
We continue to work through the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) to develop an internationally competitive electric vehicle supply chain. This includes unlocking private investment in gigafactories, battery material supply chains, motors, power electronics, and fuel cell systems.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) energy prices and (b) taxes on cars in the UK on the competitiveness of the car manufacturing sector.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
High energy costs are a concern and we know that the automotive sector is amongst those impacted. This is why we acted through the Energy Bill Relief and Discount Schemes, and we continue to engage with industry on this issue.
The Government keeps all taxes under review and considers a wide range of factors including the competitiveness of the tax regime and its impact on industry and consumers. The Government uses the motoring tax system to incentivise low emission vehicle uptake and balances simplicity and fairness, whilst ensuring the sustainability of the public finances over the long term.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his forecast is for UK steel output in 2023.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Government does not publish or produce forecasts for UK steel output.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he make a comparative assessment of average (a) energy and (b) carbon costs in the (i) steel, (ii) ceramics and (iii) building materials industries in (A) the UK and (B) other comparable countries in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
This Government will always be on the side of business and is providing an unprecedented £18 billion of support through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. The newly announced Energy Bills Discount Scheme will continue support for a further year from April 2023 and includes additional support for eligible energy and trade intensive industries, including the Steel sector.
Furthermore, this Government is determined to secure a competitive future for our energy intensive industries for the long term. We have provided extensive support, including more than £2 billion to help with the costs of electricity and to protect jobs.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will reduce the cost of carbon for large energy using industries to ease cost pressures for domestic production.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government recognises that UK industrial electricity prices are higher than those of other countries and will act to address this.
The Government has already extended the Energy Intensive Industry Compensation Scheme for a further 3 years through to 2025, and doubled the budget for the scheme in the process.
The Government is also actively considering other measures to support business, including increasing the renewable obligation exemption to 100%.
This builds upon extensive support that the Government has provided in recent years including more than £2 billion to help with the costs of electricity and to protect jobs.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many new gas and oil fields in the UK have received production licences in the last six months.
Answered by Graham Stuart
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 28 December 2022 to Question 112036, the answer to which applied to both oil and gas fields.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what is the maximum electricity output from all coal and biomass generating plants in the UK that would be able to operate if needed.
Answered by Graham Stuart
As of the end of September 2022, the installed capacity of coal and bioenergy plants in the UK totalled 14.1 GW of electrical power. This comprised 5.9 GW for coal-fired plants (Digest of UK Energy Statistics, DUKES 2022, Table 5.11) and 8.1 GW for bioenergy plants (Energy Trends, December 2022, Table 6.1). The latter comprises 4.7 GW for solid (animal and plant) biomass and 3.4 GW for other bioenergy.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the planned transition to electric vehicles on the capacity of local power cable networks.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Government analysis suggests that peak electricity demand could increase from 58GW in 2020 to between 130-190GW by 2050, with approximately 40-50% of this demand coming from electrified heat and 5-10% from electrified road transport. As set out in the Electricity Networks Strategic Framework, published last year, the onshore electricity network could require an additional £100-£240bn of investment to meet net zero by 2050, including £40-60bn in the high-voltage transmission network and £60-180bn in local distribution networks. This investment could directly support 50,000-130,000 jobs across Great Britain and contribute £4-£11bn of Gross Value Added to the economy.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much extra capacity needs to be created in the high voltage electricity grid for to accommodate planned levels of electric heating and transport.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Government analysis suggests that peak electricity demand could increase from 58GW in 2020 to between 130-190GW by 2050, with approximately 40-50% of this demand coming from electrified heat and 5-10% from electrified road transport. As set out in the Electricity Networks Strategic Framework, published last year, the onshore electricity network could require an additional £100-£240bn of investment to meet net zero by 2050, including £40-60bn in the high-voltage transmission network and £60-180bn in local distribution networks. This investment could directly support 50,000-130,000 jobs across Great Britain and contribute £4-£11bn of Gross Value Added to the economy.