Great British Energy Bill

Lord Roborough Excerpts

Committee stage
Wednesday 22nd January 2025 Grand Committee

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

Can we just return to the Severn barrage? I agree that, 40 years ago, my noble friend was looking at this and that I was looking over his shoulder at the time. The concerns about putting in a barrage on the Severn were mainly about flooding a whole mass of land further upstream. This was in the days when farmers were expected to grow food. It is rather changed now; we expect our farmers to have immense environmental concerns and, in many cases, the whole grant system is skewed towards people having nature reserves on their farms rather than producing food. Surely, if a lot of this land got flooded that would be incredibly encouraging for people who want to encourage wading birds and all the rest of it. I am sure there would be enormous environmental benefits, rather than a downturn in the prosperity of the land which then got flooded by the barrage.

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, I briefly address Amendment 113 in the name of my noble friend Lord Fuller. I declare my interest in the ownership of salmon fishing rivers.

Proposals that I have seen in the past for energy generated from tidal turbines have tended to be located where currents are strongest. By definition, this is where sea movement is constricted by narrower channels —between islands, between islands and the mainland, in estuaries or on prominent headlands around which currents and tides race. These locations are precisely where the movements of migratory fish species such as salmon and sea trout, as well as saltwater species, will be concentrated. The wild Atlantic salmon is already an IUCN red list species and the greatest of care must be taken with any further risk to the survival of every individual fish, given that the species is so threatened.

For these reasons, I strongly support my noble friend’s amendment and those of my noble friend Lord Offord of Garvel, which he and my noble friend Lord Howell of Guildford have spoken to very convincingly. I urge the Minister to take these concerns seriously and consider incorporating environmental protections in this Bill.

[The Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath) (Lab)]

My Lords, this first group of amendments has led to an interesting discussion that went somewhat wider than I expected.

Amendments 111 and 112 proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Offord, and Amendment 113 proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, would require the Secretary of State to assess the environmental and animal welfare impacts of Great British Energy projects. Amendments 111 and 112 relate to offshore wind energy projects and the decommissioning of offshore oil and gas structures, respectively, involving Great British Energy. Amendment 113 relates to Great British Energy’s offshore tidal energy projects. Under each of these amendments, if, following assessments, significant environmental damage or animal welfare issues are identified, Great British Energy must cease these activities.

The noble Lord, Lord Offord, started by referring to the partnership agreed between Great British Energy and the Crown Estate. He is right that we see great potential in this for our 2030 ambition for offshore wind at between 43 and 50 gigawatts. We also see potential in tidal stream. I relate that to the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Howell, on the huge increase in future electricity demand and his suggestion that it would likely have an environmental impact, which Great British Energy would be promoting through its investment in various projects and in clearing the way for other projects.

I very much take the point of the noble Lord, Lord Howell, on the partnership needed between government and the private sector and private finance. I do not know whether that unit in the Cabinet Office still exists, but I am pretty certain that the Cabinet Office is extremely interested in leveraging private finance. This Bill is partly to enable that and to promote expertise in the private sector on behalf of the polices that the Government wish to enact on clean power and net zero.

The noble Lord, Lord Cameron, had some interesting insights on the environmental issues and presented a balanced and helpful report. I make it absolutely clear that the Government’s commitment to the environment is unwavering. We have the Environment Act targets of halting biodiversity decline by 2030 and safeguarding our marine protected areas. We believe that a healthy natural environment is critical to a strong economy and sustainable growth and development. We have a duty to uphold environmental protection and minimise any impact on biodiversity. This must and will extend to any project that Great British Energy is involved in.

I reassure the noble Viscount, Lord Trenchard, that projects involving Great British Energy will be subject to rigorous planning and environmental regulations that consider impacts on the environment and habitats. The general theme of my argument is that it is not for GBE to do this; it will ensure that any project it is involved with follows the law and the guidance to protect our environment. It seems to me that the argument noble Lords have is with those environmental protections, which, by implication, they presumably think are not strong enough, rather than with Great British Energy.

Perhaps I can carry on that theme. As an example, projects will be subject to the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017, under which the impact of these projects on the environment and habitats are considered as part of the development process. Additionally, as part of the nationally significant infrastructure regime, developers are required to provide environmental assessments as part of their application for development consent, which will be subject to detailed scrutiny through an examination held by the Planning Inspectorate. This will include scrutiny of the environmental impact assessment and a habitats regulations assessment, which would consider the likely impacts of a proposed development against a range of environmental receptors.

The planning process, at both national and local level, is underpinned by a number of other pieces of legislation that will apply to projects in which Great British Energy might have a role. They include: the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017; the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004; the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017; and the Conservation of Offshore Marine Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. On offshore wind, I should say that we are working with Defra on the offshore wind environment improvement package to expedite offshore wind consenting while protecting the marine environment.

On the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, in England we are committed to meeting our four legally binding targets for diversity: to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030; to reverse declines by at least 10% by 2042; to reduce the risk of national species extinction by 2042; and to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat, also by 2042. We have launched a rapid review of the environmental improvement plan to ensure that it fully supports our mission to recover nature.

We also intend to establish industry-funded marine recovery funds into which applicants can pay to discharge their compensation obligations, underpinned by libraries of approved strategic compensation measures. We are engaging in discussions with the Scottish Government with a view to reaching an agreement on the establishment of, and the delegation of appropriate functions to operate and manage, a separate marine recovery fund for projects in Scotland. We think that the offshore wind environmental improvement package—the OWEIP —will, on the whole, accelerate and de-risk the consent of offshore wind projects while continuing to protect the marine environment.

Great British Energy will not play a role in the decommissioning of oil and gas structures. However, I should say that the UK’s decommissioning regulatory regime requires a robust assessment of the potential impact on safety, technical constraints and costs, ensuring no harm to human health or the environment. Decommissioning proposals are subject to thorough environmental assessment before a regulatory decision is made.

On the matter of tidal, I was interested in the contribution from the noble Lord, Lord Fuller. He referred to the tough challenges involved. I well remember visiting the Pentland Firth when I was last in this job; Rolls-Royce was engaged then, I think. I readily accept that this is a very tough challenge. On the other hand, we are the world leader in tidal stream—half of the world’s operational capacity is situated in UK waters—and we want to go further. My understanding is that six tidal stream contracts, with a capacity of 28 megawatts, were secured in Scotland and Wales in the latest allocation round of the Government’s contracts for difference scheme.

I had responsibility for the River Severn project between 2008 and 2010. I chaired a number of community forums with people in the south-west who were keen to see progress in the Severn but, I have to say, I received the same advice as the noble Lord, Lord Howell: the environmental damage would be so considerable that it was not thought appropriate to go ahead. My understanding—I am not going to guess; I will write to the noble Lord, Lord Hamilton—is that the position is still the same, but I will find out some more and let him know, because he clearly has a keen interest in this matter.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Frost (Con)]

My Lords, I speak to Amendment 130 in my name. I begin by noting my interests as set out in the register; I have a new interest as a director of Net Zero Watch.

Amendment 130 would postpone the entry into force of much of this Act until the Secretary of State publishes a comprehensive report setting out the full costs of the renewable energy industry. My noble friend Lord Hamilton has just set out the logic of having such a clause that delays the entry into force of certain provisions. From my point of view, the logic is that certain things need to be made clear before Great British Energy can effectively start its work.

It is in this area—the cost of renewables, the subsidies, the taxpayer support, the higher prices—that this problem of establishing the basis on which GBE is proceeding seems the strongest because it would be going into this without any reliable costings in this area and with a real sense that what is known about the costs of renewables is not being disclosed entirely frankly for full and honest debate. When we try to have a debate on this subject, we are often shot down by a statement that, whatever the costs, the costs of climate change are higher. But again, that is never set out. I was lucky enough yesterday to be able to ask the Secretary of State when the last cost-benefit analysis had been done on this subject, and he said it was in 2021. That was before the Ukraine war, which is used as the justification for the rush to renewables.

The NESO report was produced last autumn. It shows that both the pathways to decarbonisation of the energy grid in 2030 are more expensive than doing nothing. That is even clearer if you eliminate the vastly inflated carbon price included in those costings. My right honourable friend the shadow Secretary for Energy Claire Coutinho said last week that internal work within the department on the full system costs of renewables, which she commissioned when she was Energy Secretary, had been stopped. That work would have given us the data that would have enabled the report that my amendment requires.

To conclude on this point, I refer to a blog by Sir Dieter Helm, a well-known expert in this area and not someone with whom I agree on the fundamentals of climate change. He says in this blog, written last week, on the prospect of renewables costs falling:

“It would be wonderful if it was true, but sadly it isn’t anytime soon”.


He goes on to say the UK and the EU are

“telling fairy tales that ‘it’s all going to be cheaper’ here”.

He is one of the biggest experts in this area. We need honesty and GBE needs clarity about the reality on which it is proceeding with its work. That is why I have tabled my amendment, and why we need a proper report and clarity. GBE needs a reliable starting point so that its actions can be tested against reality and we can be sure that it is acting properly in the public interest. I hope the Minister looks at the issue with that in mind, and perhaps gives this amendment sympathetic consideration.

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, I rise briefly in support of my noble friend Lord Hamilton of Epsom’s Amendment 118B, with which I obviously agree, as I do on most things—apart from the widespread competitiveness of green hydrogen. I also draw the Committee’s attention to my interests in solar and wind energy project development.

This amendment appears entirely logical in preventing GB Energy investing in any project whose economics depend wholly or in part on government support. This would prevent any impression that the Government may be self-dealing or that there could be any bias in project support from the Government. Without the amendment, there is a risk of a chilling effect on private sector projects that may wish to compete with projects backed by GB Energy, if there is a perception that the Government will always prefer GB Energy projects. There is also a risk that the Government will face the moral hazard of temptation to prop up failing GB Energy projects and investments. For these reasons, this is a highly desirable amendment.

I am also interested in the Minister’s replies to my noble friend Lord Frost on the whole system cost of renewables—particularly if the Minister were able to give this Committee some insight into the carbon costs that his department are using. If he cannot do so now, perhaps he can do so in writing. If the Minister does not agree with the wisdom of my noble friend’s amendment, what transparency can he offer into the amount of government support that may be falling into the hands of GB Energy’s projects?