Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their announcement in June that the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) will come into force from 1 January 2020 and that there will be five eligible low-carbon technology types for the proposed SEG Tariff, namely solar photovoltaic, wind, micro combined heat and power, and hydro and anaerobic digestion, whether eligible utilities will be required to offer a single SEG Tariff to community generators, regardless of generation type; or whether they will be required to offer one tariff for each technology type.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) will require licensed suppliers with 150,000 and over domestic customers to provide at least one tariff offer to any eligible exporter, they are free to offer more than one tariff. Other suppliers may participate on a voluntary basis.
Suppliers will not be required to offer different tariffs for each technology type. In keeping SEG requirements as simple as possible, suppliers will have maximum flexibility to build on it, adapt and innovate – for example by tailoring tariffs to appeal to owners of various types of small-scale generation, as well as wider smart infrastructure such as electric vehicles and domestic-scale storage systems.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Smart Export Guarantee Tariff per kilowatt hour as proposed will be the same for (1) small commercial, (2) household, and (3) community-owned generators.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The Smart Export Guarantee will be a market-based mechanism, with suppliers free to set prices, in line with government’s objective to move towards market pricing.
The level of tariffs will be for relevant suppliers to determine, other than a requirement for them to provide a remuneration for exported electricity that is greater than zero at all times of export.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of Smart Export Guarantee Tariff that will be necessary to give communities a viable route to market for the electricity they generate from (1) hydro, (2) onshore wind, and (3) solar sources; and what, if any, economic appraisal has been made of the potential (a) economic development, and (b) environmental benefits, of restoring access to the generation markets for community owned generators, following the demise of the Feed-in Tariff scheme.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The Smart Export Guarantee will be a market-based mechanism, with suppliers free to set prices, in line with government’s objective to move towards market pricing. The level of tariffs will be for relevant suppliers to determine, other than a requirement for them to provide a remuneration for exported electricity that is greater than zero at all times of export.
An Impact Assessment for the Smart Export Guarantee was published on 10 June 2019, which also considers the potential impact of this new policy on deployment of low-carbon generation, greenhouse gas emissions and air quality. It is available at the Gov.uk website.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to retaining Feed-in Tariffs for small community-run hydroelectricity schemes.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government confirmed on 18 December 2018 the closure of the Feed-In Tariffs scheme to all new applications after 31 March 2019 subject to a number of time-limited extensions and a grace period. The Government is considering its future approach and what measures might be taken to support the efforts of community organisations and education providers who want to invest in low-carbon energy installations as part of its consultation on a Smart Export Guarantee which was published on 8 January. The consultation is open until 5 March and can be assessed on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to continue the Feed-in Tariff scheme for hydroelectricity systems.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government confirmed on 18 December 2018 the closure of the Feed-In Tariffs scheme to all new applications after 31 March 2019 subject to a number of time-limited extensions and a grace period. We are now consulting on a Smart Export Guarantee to follow on from the FIT scheme, to ensure that small-scale low-carbon generators, including hydroelectricity, do not export their electricity to the grid for free.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they have paid, broken down by power source, to generators of electricity as compensation for their output not being required by National Grid in each of the past ten years.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government does not make such payments. National Grid is responsible for procuring the balancing services needed to help ensure the secure operation of the electricity system, which it does through competitive market arrangements.
National Grid has advised that it publishes details of balancing services procured, including a break down by power source of payments made to constrain generation output, in its Monthly Balancing Services Summary. This is available on the National Grid's website.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of future electricity storage requirements resulting from increased generation of electricity from intermittent sources.
Answered by Lord Henley
BEIS’s 2017 Energy Emissions projections outlines that 11GW of electricity storage could be deployed in Great Britain by 2035 under the Reference Scenario. Up to 2020, the reference scenario reflects current power sector policies. Beyond 2020, the reference scenario includes assumptions that go beyond current Government policy. The results do not indicate a preferred outcome and should be treated as illustrative.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to encourage investment in pumped storage hydroelectricity projects.
Answered by Lord Henley
In our Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan, published in July 2017 (and updated in October 2018), Government and Ofgem set out a range of actions to remove barriers to electricity storage. These actions seek to improve regulatory clarity and enable fair access to energy markets in order to create a best-in-class regulatory framework for the sector.
We will continue to engage storage developers, including those of pumped hydro projects, to understand how best to collaborate with the sector whilst ensuring best value for consumers and fair competition between different flexibility technologies.