National Policy Statements (Energy)

Debate between Malcolm Wicks and Charles Hendry

Monday 18th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Charles Hendry]

The hon. Lady knows what has happened. The Committee on Climate Change has made recommendations to us, and we have responded to them, and we were widely seen as one of the world leaders in this respect; the United Kingdom is well ahead of most other countries. It would be helpful if she would sometimes welcome the changes and the advances being made, rather than always saying it is not enough. It is appropriate to recognise in the course of these debates that Britain has shown real global leadership. There is cross-party agreement on that, and it should be welcomed.

The fossil fuels NPS—EN-2—explains what drives site selection for power plants and the practical requirements for carbon capture and storage. Together with relevant bits of EN-1, the EU emissions trading scheme and our own policies on an emissions performance standard, it will give developers confidence that there is a stable regime under which they can invest in the fossil-fuel generating stations that are necessary to provide the essential back-up for intermittent generation from some forms of renewable energy, or perform as low-carbon generators themselves, fitted with carbon capture and storage.

[Malcolm Wicks (Croydon North) (Lab)]

Will the Minister update the House on the progress of the carbon capture and storage programme? When does he expect the first major CCS project to be up and running cleanly?

[Charles Hendry]

I welcome the right hon. Gentleman’s interest and expertise in these matters. As he knows, we took on some of the work of his Administration by allocating an extra £1 billion for the first full-scale CCS project—the largest amount any Government anywhere in the world had given to a single project. Over recent weeks, we have been negotiating very carefully with the interested parties about how we can deliver what we want in terms of the knowledge transfer and output for the CCS project, based on what they believe is achievable for the funding. Those discussions are ongoing, and we hope that they will be brought to a conclusion with the first plant being operational by 2015.

We have also said there will be three other projects, and we have evolved the policy we inherited from the previous Administration by saying that one of them should be on gas, in recognition of the long-term role gas is likely to play and the significant interest in this country in developing gas technologies. At a time when other Governments are slipping back their time scales for CCS, it is encouraging that the UK programme has been moving forward. I hope the right hon. Gentleman will warmly welcome that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Malcolm Wicks and Charles Hendry

Thursday 24th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Charles Hendry]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, which is why the Chancellor made his announcement yesterday. This is a simpler way of getting the funding in; it provides the funding up front rather than it being based on output, and it is a significant step forward.

[Malcolm Wicks (Croydon North) (Lab)]

Given the abandonment of the levy and a reliance on Government money from general taxation, the words “blood out of a stone” come to mind, in view of my own experience with the Treasury. Will the Minister assure us that public spending will be made available in addition to what has already been announced to ensure the future of this technology, which is absolutely vital to our fight against global warming?

[Charles Hendry]

The right hon. Gentleman has tremendous knowledge in these areas, so he will also be aware of the European scheme NER300, to which the United Kingdom has submitted nine projects out of a total of 22 across Europe. That provides capital up-front funding. What the Chancellor announced yesterday removes the tremendous complexity from the levy and provides a much more straightforward scheme to drive this technology forward.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Malcolm Wicks and Charles Hendry

Thursday 16th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Malcolm Wicks (Croydon North) (Lab)]

On energy security, will Ministers examine critically the supply obligation that we place on companies, given that the tendency to buy short term rather than long term, and sometimes on the spot market, means that there can be no absolute guarantee that the supply will be in place in critical and extreme times for the world?

[Charles Hendry]

That is an element of the Energy Bill. We will increase the supplier obligation to ensure that suppliers can meet demand at times of greatest demand. I have also spoken with other Governments—Qatar this week and Norway more recently—about how to secure more long-term contracts to provide greater security of supply and greater price predictability.