Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
What recent steps his Department has taken to support opportunities arising from marine energy.
Answered by George Freeman
On Monday 13 September we confirmed that wave and tidal stream projects will be eligible to compete in this year’s Contracts for Difference allocation round. We continue to assess a range of marine technologies following our Call for Evidence on marine energy.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on support for renewable sources of energy.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Ministers regularly discuss issues including renewable energy, including as part of the Government’s commitment to meeting net zero by 2050.
In 2019, the Government set a legally binding-target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from across the UK economy by 2050. We agree with the Committee on Climate Change’s view on the importance of a diverse mix of power generation sources to achieve that with renewables providing the majority of our electricity by 2050 alongside firm low carbon power from sources such as nuclear, and gas or biomass generation with carbon capture and storage. The Government has introduced many initiatives to increase the supply of renewable energy production in the UK.
We have committed up to £557m of annual support for future Contracts for Difference, providing developers with the confidence they need to invest in bringing forward new projects and we are supporting our world-leading offshore wind industry through the 2019 sector deal.
In order to support smaller scale renewable electricity generation, the Government introduced the Smart Export Guarantee on 1 January, which gives?small scale low-carbon electricity generators, such as?homes with?solar?panels,?the right to?be paid for the renewable electricity they export to the grid.
The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) supports the transition to low-carbon heating in the UK, helping generate renewable heat for schools, hospitals and more than 12,000 social housing properties. The scheme is designed to bridge the gap between the cost of fossil fuel heat sources and renewable heat alternatives through financial support for owners of participating installations. The RHI helps to sustain and build the supply-chains needed to deliver our aspirations for renewable heat in 2020 and beyond
Meeting our net zero target will require virtually all heat in buildings to be decarbonised, and heat in industry to be reduced to close to zero carbon emissions. This will involve large-scale transformation, including disruption to consumers and wide-ranging change to energy systems and markets: the way heating is supplied to over 28 million homes, businesses and industrial users will need to change.
We are working to develop a new policy framework for the long-term decarbonisation of heat. This will set out the programme of work required to enable key strategic decisions on how we achieve mass transition to low carbon heating.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to develop a UK alternative to participation in the Galileo satellite navigation programme.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The UK’s preference is to remain involved in the Galileo programme and we are continuing in our negotiations with the European Union on that basis. However, as a responsible Government, we need to look at alternatives to meet our national security, strategic and industrial requirements.
As such, on 29 August, the Government announced that we are investing £92m of Brexit readiness money on developing an independent satellite system. The study will inform the decision to create the system as an alternative to Galileo should an acceptable agreement for continued UK participation in Galileo not be possible.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
What steps he is taking to support the marine energy industry.
Answered by Claire Perry
We’re committed to supporting our marine energy industry.
Through the European Marine Energy Centre, based in the Orkney Islands and the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, we are world leaders in developing marine technologies.
We have provided more support for offshore wind than any other country in the world.
And we are making up to £557 million of annual support available for offshore wind, wave and tidal stream in upcoming competitive CFD allocation rounds.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendations of the Hendry Review on Tidal Lagoons.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
I congratulate my Hon. Friend for his continued advocacy on tidal lagoons.
We are making progress on assessing the recommendations of the Hendry Review. As my Hon. Friend will be aware, the issues are complex, as they relate to an untried technology in the marine environment. It is important we understand the costs and challenges posed by this technology in relation to its possible role in the UK’s energy mix and potential environmental impact.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to continue to ring-fence Contracts for Difference funding solely for tidal and marine energy projects.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The details of the forthcoming Contract for Difference (CfD) allocation round, including whether funding for wave and tidal stream projects should be ring-fenced, will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to encourage businesses to take on apprentices.
Answered by Nick Boles
Later this month, we will launch a communications campaign that will promote the benefits of apprenticeships to employers.
From next April, the apprenticeship levy will put funding in the hands of employers and encourage them to take on more apprentices.
We are also supporting smaller businesses taking on young apprentices through the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers; and removed the requirement for employers to pay National Insurance contributions for apprentices aged under 25.