Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
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 the number of kilometres of transmission network that will be added to the electricity grid in the (a) 2020s, (b) 2030s and (c) 2040s.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department does not estimate the future size of the transmission network. The Electricity System Operator, along with Transmission Operators and Ofgem, is responsible for the development of the network. The ESO is required to publish annual recommendations for which transmission network reinforcement projects should receive investment, but this does not include data on the length of projects. The latest recommendations, published in the 'Beyond 2030' report, cover network needs up to the mid-2030s. The report is available on the ESO's website.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what volume of gas was imported from Russia in 2023.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In 2023, the UK did not import any gas from Russia. The last import of gas from Russia to the UK was in March 2022 (Energy Trends Table 4.4).
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many kilometres of transmission network were added to the electricity grid in the period (a) between 1994 and 1999, (b) between 2000 and 2009, (c) between 2010 and 2019 and (d) since 2019.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department does not hold historic data of annual transmission network build. As stated in the Electricity Networks Strategic Framework, in 2021 there were approximately 20,000km of onshore high voltage transmission cables in the UK.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
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 the proportion of total energy demand will be met by (a) oil, (b) gas and (c) nuclear in (i) 2025, (ii) 2030, (iii) 2035, (iv) 2040, (v) 2045 and (vi) 2050.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The table below sets out shares for oil, gas and nuclear consistent with a pathway to meeting the UK’s 6th Carbon Budget.
| 2022 | 2025 | 2030 | 2035 |
Gas (% of total energy) | 38% | 37% | 33% | 28% |
Oil (% of total energy) | 38% | 36% | 34% | 23% |
Electricity from nuclear (% of total energy) | 2% | 2% | 2% | 4% |
Electricity from nuclear (% of electricity) | 15% | 15% | 10% | 13% |
Beyond 2035, oil and gas use will need to continue to decline but will remain an important part of the energy mix and even when reaching net zero in 2050 oil and gas (combined) could still provide around a quarter of the UK's energy needs. The Government has set out an ambition for nuclear energy to provide up to around a quarter of the UK’s electricity needs by 2050 which would represent around 12% of expected total energy demand.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much (a) private sector investment and (b) public sector funding there has been for (i) onshore wind, (ii) offshore wind and (iii) solar power in each financial year since 2009-10.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Based on data from BloombergNEF, total investment into UK offshore wind, onshore wind and solar PV was £143bn over 2009-2023 (converted to real 2023 prices, nearest £bn). For these technologies, a record £19bn was in 2023, helping the renewable share of total UK electricity generation increase from 7% in 2010 to nearly 50% in 2023.
In the UK, renewables receive levy-funded support through legacy schemes (Renewables Obligation [RO] and Feed-in Tariffs [FiTs]), and our Contracts for Difference (CfD) mechanism. The OBR regularly publish estimates of levy spend for the prior financial year across the RO and CfD schemes, and Ofgem publishes estimates for FiTs, aggregated for all renewables. For the CfD scheme only, the LCCC publish data at a technology and plant level.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what information her Department holds on the year in which the highest level of private sector investment into renewable sources of power generation was recorded.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Based on data from BloombergNEF, total investment into UK offshore wind, onshore wind and solar PV was £143bn over 2009-2023 (converted to real 2023 prices, nearest £bn). For these technologies, a record £19bn was in 2023, helping the renewable share of total UK electricity generation increase from 7% in 2010 to nearly 50% in 2023.
In the UK, renewables receive levy-funded support through legacy schemes (Renewables Obligation [RO] and Feed-in Tariffs [FiTs]), and our Contracts for Difference (CfD) mechanism. The OBR regularly publish estimates of levy spend for the prior financial year across the RO and CfD schemes, and Ofgem publishes estimates for FiTs, aggregated for all renewables. For the CfD scheme only, the LCCC publish data at a technology and plant level.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the revenue that will be raised by the Energy Profits Levy by March 2029.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Forecasts for government revenues from oil and gas production, including for Energy Profits Levy, are provided by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Their most recent published forecast, provided for Spring Budget 2024 on 6 March, is available on the OBR website at the following link https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2024/.