Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 minutes of the Net Zero Council's meeting on 9 November 2023, what steps her Department is taking to support the first pillar of the Net Zero Council's SME workstream on net zero messaging.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Delivery of net zero relies on strong business action. The Council supported the re-launch of the UK Business Climate Hub, which provides information and resources to SMEs. The Hub highlights the benefits of reducing carbon emissions, setting out the opportunities offered by net zero and empowering businesses to act. The Council remains committed to further developing the UK Business Climate Hub.
The Council is also supporting SMEs through its Public Engagement workstream, which is developing resources to support businesses when communicating with staff, customers and supply chains on both the broader net zero transition and decarbonisation within their sector.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the Net Zero Council has consulted (a) industry associations and (b) sector-wide bodies during the development of business sector roadmaps.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Net Zero Council developed guidelines to help businesses create tailored action plans to reduce emissions across their sector. These were published last year and provide a robust, credible and consistent set of criteria for business sector roadmaps.
Industry-led roadmaps have been developed in line with this guidance for priority sectors of the economy, with input from both industry associations and sector-wide bodies.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 oral Answer by the Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero of 27 February 2024, Official Report, column 123, what her planned timescale is for publishing the Net Zero Council business sector roadmaps.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Net zero business sector roadmap guidelines were published in August 2023, providing a robust, credible and consistent set of criteria to support businesses in developing tailored action plans to reduce emissions.
Industry representatives have led the development of roadmaps in priority sectors, which have been discussed by the Council to catalyse action across the economy and identify dependencies across sectors. This workstream is coordinated on behalf of the Council by the Broadway Initiative, who are exploring options for publication following the conclusion of the Council’s review.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what (a) barriers to achieving net zero and (b) solutions the Net Zero Council has identified; and what steps the Government is taking to support the council's work.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Net Zero Council has met four times since it was established in 2023. As a strategic partnership between government, business and finance it has catalysed action across the economy. Under its leadership, industry-led roadmaps representing around 80% of UK territorial emissions have been produced in line with clear, consistent guidelines developed by the Council. The Council has also taken action to tackle issues and address barriers, including supporting the re-launch of the UK Business Climate Hub which provides information and resources to SMEs.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 Answer of 27 March 2024 to Question 19567, (a) on how many days and (b) for how many hours energy companies were asked to (i) curtail and (ii) increase generation as a result of network constraints in 2023.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
National Grid ESO manages network constraints. In 2023, constraint costs were £1.4bn and the volume of balancing services used to manage constraints was around 12TWh. Data are not available on exact timing of curtailment and the split of costs between renewable and gas generators in 2023.
The Government is working with Ofgem and network companies to accelerate network delivery in line with the Winser recommendations and is halving the construction time of new transmission infrastructure from 14 years to 7, delivering the grid capacity needed to alleviate network constraints. The Review of Electricity Market Arrangements consultation considers several options which could help to reduce constraint costs, including locational pricing, electricity storage deployment and establishing constraints markets.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 27 March 2024 to Question 19567 on Energy: Payments, what the cost of (a) curtailing generation of renewable energy and (b) increasing generation of gas power was in 2023.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
National Grid ESO manages network constraints. In 2023, constraint costs were £1.4bn and the volume of balancing services used to manage constraints was around 12TWh. Data are not available on exact timing of curtailment and the split of costs between renewable and gas generators in 2023.
The Government is working with Ofgem and network companies to accelerate network delivery in line with the Winser recommendations and is halving the construction time of new transmission infrastructure from 14 years to 7, delivering the grid capacity needed to alleviate network constraints. The Review of Electricity Market Arrangements consultation considers several options which could help to reduce constraint costs, including locational pricing, electricity storage deployment and establishing constraints markets.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 27 March 2024 to Question 19567 on Energy: Payments, how much wind energy generation was curtailed in 2023.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
National Grid ESO manages network constraints. In 2023, constraint costs were £1.4bn and the volume of balancing services used to manage constraints was around 12TWh. Data are not available on exact timing of curtailment and the split of costs between renewable and gas generators in 2023.
The Government is working with Ofgem and network companies to accelerate network delivery in line with the Winser recommendations and is halving the construction time of new transmission infrastructure from 14 years to 7, delivering the grid capacity needed to alleviate network constraints. The Review of Electricity Market Arrangements consultation considers several options which could help to reduce constraint costs, including locational pricing, electricity storage deployment and establishing constraints markets.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of projected annual network constraint costs for (a) 2024, (b) 2025 and (c) 2030.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
National Grid ESO manages network constraints. In 2023, constraint costs were £1.4bn and the volume of balancing services used to manage constraints was around 12TWh. Data are not available on exact timing of curtailment and the split of costs between renewable and gas generators in 2023.
The Government is working with Ofgem and network companies to accelerate network delivery in line with the Winser recommendations and is halving the construction time of new transmission infrastructure from 14 years to 7, delivering the grid capacity needed to alleviate network constraints. The Review of Electricity Market Arrangements consultation considers several options which could help to reduce constraint costs, including locational pricing, electricity storage deployment and establishing constraints markets.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he plans to support a third term for the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
FCDO Ministers will consider the UK position in advance of the upcoming election for the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority. The question of mineral-resources related activities in the seabed beyond the limits of national jurisdiction for the benefit of humankind is a critical one, and the outcome of this election will have wide significance.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, which consultations (a) published and (b) inherited by her Department are awaiting a response; and when she plans to publish each of those responses.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has inherited or published 35 consultations, for which a response by the department is still outstanding:
The Department will respond to each in due course.