Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of adding carbon capture, utilisation and storage costs onto household bills.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We have created several business models to fund CCUS projects, designed to ensure value for money whilst providing long term sight of revenue streams for investors. CCUS will be funded by a mixture of exchequer and levy sources, the exact split to be determined in due course. Negotiations with projects are ongoing and therefore commercially confidential. Final awards will be published on the UK subsidy database. We will continue to learn from the first clusters as they approach Final Investment Decisions and apply these lessons to further development of CCUS to ensure that it delivers value for money.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what plans he has for increased (a) funding for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and (b) support for additional low-carbon heating technologies.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
On 21 November the Government announced £30 million of additional budget for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme for this financial year in response to increased uptake to the scheme. It was also confirmed that the scheme budget for the next financial year will be almost doubled to £295 million. Budgets for subsequent years will be confirmed in the second phase of the Spending Review.
The Government has also announced support for social housing and lower income households through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and Warm Homes: Local Grant which includes support for low carbon heating.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many civil servants in his Department are working on (a) demand flexibility, (b) Great British Energy, (c) hydrogen, (d) carbon capture and storage, (e) nuclear energy, (f) the review of electricity market arrangements, (g) heat electrification and (h) biomass.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department has around 4500 full time equivalents (FTE) working across multiple policy areas and programmes. These include demand flexibility, Great British Energy, Carbon capture, utilisation and storage, hydrogen, nuclear, the review of electricity market arrangements, heat electrification and biomass, amongst others. The Department’s resourcing is recorded and aligned to its organisation structure, rather than to portfolios. This means we are unable to provide a detailed breakdown for each of the areas mentioned.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department plans to allow large-scale development consent order solar projects to bid for future Contracts for Difference auctions.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Solar projects over 5MW were eligible to apply for Allocation Round 6. The Government is committed to accelerating solar deployment to meet clean power 2030 and reviews the Contracts for Difference scheme before every round to ensure it continues to deliver this and other objectives. We will confirm details for Allocation Round 7, including eligibility, in due course.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) restoring a three-year window for solar photovoltaics and (b) allowing solar Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects to bid in future Contracts for Difference auctions.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Solar projects over 5MW were eligible to apply for Allocation Round 6. The Government is committed to accelerating solar deployment to meet clean power 2030 and reviews the Contracts for Difference scheme before every round to ensure it continues to deliver this and other objectives. We will confirm details for Allocation Round 7, including eligibility, in due course.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what proportion of funding from the public purse for Sizewell C has been (a) spent on and (b) committed to companies with headquarters in (i) the UK and (ii) what foreign countries.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The details of contracts agreed by Sizewell C with its suppliers are commercially sensitive. The project has made a commitment to spend 70 per cent of the construction value in the UK.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what his Department's timetable is for making a decision on how much funding the Government will make available for bioenergy carbon capture and storage technology.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Following the announcement in October 2024 of funding for the initial Track 1 cluster configurations, further funding decisions for continued CCUS deployment will be taken as part of the Spending Review concluding in late Spring 2025.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the (a) potential implications for his policies and (b) the Government's net zero strategy of discussions by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on determining its methodology for calculating bioenergy with carbon capture and storage emissions including imported biomass.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
An assessment is made on the potential implications of any policy by the civil service and is provided to ministers to allow an informed decision to be made. The 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories provide a methodology for the reporting of emissions from bioenergy with carbon capture and storage that the UK is intending to follow once the technology is operating at sufficient scale.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 18 September 2024 to Question 5089 on Great British Nuclear: Recruitment, for what reason his Department is unable to provide a list of (a) the 16 organisations from which personnel have been seconded to Great British Nuclear and (b) the number of personnel supplied by each organisation.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department is unable to share information potentially sensitive to individuals working within GBN. GBN has grown rapidly as an organisation with permanent recruitment underway.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of recognising book and claim as a form of corporate emissions reporting.
Answered by Kerry McCarthy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Large or listed UK companies are required to disclose specified emissions under the regulations which underpin Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting. Currently, Government is considering the International Sustainability Standards Board reporting requirements which do not prohibit the use of book and claim for emissions, subject to transparent reporting and verification. DESNZ is also reviewing the Environmental Reporting Guidance which includes guidance on reporting renewable energy where Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin are used alongside physical purchase of energy, as well as use of carbon offsets. However, there are no plans to conduct a specific assessment of the merits of book and claim at the present time.