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 plans he has to make up for the reduction in energy derived from nuclear power in this decade as the current fleet of nuclear stations close.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Government is committed to nuclear power in our future diverse energy mix:
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 (a) the implications for his policies of rising UK import dependence in energy and (b) the potential to expand domestic production.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Great Britain benefits from highly diverse sources of energy. The Government plans to increase energy production from a variety of sources, including nuclear and hydrogen will ensure that dependency on foreign fossil fuels is decreased. Around half of Great Britain’s annual gas supply is already met by domestic production, and Great Britain’s electricity mix includes significant sources of domestic generation.
The Government is taking steps to support investment in new sources of electricity generation, including 40 GW of offshore wind by 2030, a first of a kind power plant enabled with Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage technology, and new nuclear projects. The Net Zero Strategy also sets out the Government’s ambition to decrease Great Britain’s reliance on natural gas, such as by blending hydrogen into the gas grid.
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 policy is on the required minimum level of oil stocks for national resilience.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Emergency oil stocks are a critical tool to defend against the harmful impacts of major disruptions to global oil supply. The UK holds emergency stocks of oil, primarily to release in a co-ordinated fashion with other members to the international market in the event of such major supply disruption. As a member of the International Energy Agency the UK is obligated to hold a minimum of 90 days of net imports. This obligation is passed on to companies that supply more than 50 thousand tonnes of key fuels to the UK market in a twelve-month period.
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 additional carbon dioxide is generated by importing and burning LNG compared to using more natural gas delivered by pipeline from UK fields.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Oil and Gas Association published analysis in May 2020, comparing the carbon intensity of United Kingdom Continental Shelf gas with imported liquified natural gas and pipelined gas:
This analysis shows that gas extracted from the United Kingdom Continental Shelf has an average emission intensity of 22 kgCO2e/boe; whereas imported liquified natural gas has a significantly higher average intensity of 59 kgCO2e/boe. The process of liquefaction, combined with the emissions produced by the transportation and regasification of the liquified natural gas once in the United Kingdom, is responsible for the higher emissions intensity.
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 policy is on minimum levels of UK natural gas stocks.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Storage plays an important role in providing system flexibility in responding to short-term changes in supply and demand. The purpose of storage is to top-up supply when demand is high. Storage is not intended as a gas supply source. Current gas storage levels for winter are higher than early January last year.
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 estimate he has made of the additional capacity needs for UK electricity in (a) 2025 and (b) 2030, as a result of plans to increase electrical heating and vehicles substantially and to grow the economy.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government works closely with National Grid Electricity System Operator (NG:ESO) to ensure there is adequate capacity available to meet peak demand in a range of scenarios, now and in the future.
Each year NG:ESO evaluate how much capacity will be necessary to meet demand in the years ahead and utilise this assessment to determine targets for the annual Capacity Market auctions.
Auctions held to date have secured the majority of Great Britain’s capacity needs out to 2024/25. A further two Capacity Market auctions will take place later this winter which will secure electricity supply out to 2025/26.
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 the preferred back up capacity is for electricity generation when there is little wind.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Capacity Market is the government’s main tool for ensuring security of electricity supply. It aims to ensure there is enough capacity to address peak demand in a wide range of scenarios, such as during periods of cold weather or low wind output. The Capacity Market is technology neutral. It does not seek to procure specific volumes of capacity from different types of technology. All types of capacity can participate, including renewable technologies, storage, and demand-side response.
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 plans he has to convert more coal-fired stations to biomass energy production facilities to contribute to the UK's power needs.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has no plans to convert more coal fired power stations to biomass, and new coal-to-biomass conversions are no longer supported by government under the Contracts for Difference scheme.
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 plans he has to allow more UK gas production as the transition fuel in the energy transition.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK oil and gas sector has a critical role in maintaining the country’s energy security. Home-grown supplies still met approximately 46 per cent of the UK’s domestic gas consumption in 2019. However, the UK Continental Shelf is a mature basin and projections for production show a steady decline, even with new investment. In the North Sea Transition Deal, the Government set out a position of conditional support for ongoing domestic production, in recognition of the important role that gas in particular will play as the economy transitions from one based on fossil fuels towards one based on clean energy through our commitment to net zero.
It is the role of the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) to ensure that the sector continues to develop our North Sea assets cost-effectively and responsibly, while also supporting our net zero goals through the revised OGA Strategy published earlier this year.
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 merits of UK producing gas domestically rather than relying on imports, given the fluctuations of gas spot market prices.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK’s largest single source of gas continues to be the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), accounting for around 48% of total supply in 2020. Remaining supply for 2020 was sourced via Norway (29%), LNG (22%), and interconnection to Europe (2%).
Gas is traded in global markets so the biggest factors influencing prices are global trends in supply and demand. Many of the factors affecting the spikes we have seen in wholesale gas prices are attributable to international activity extending beyond the UK’s domestic production.
Ultimately, the UK’s exposure to volatile gas prices underscores the importance of the Government’s plan to build a strong, home-grown renewable energy sector to further reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.