Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps his Department has taken to progress the UK to energy independence.

Ensuring that UK homes and businesses have the certainty of secure energy supplies now and in the future is an absolute priority. In terms of electricity, the UK’s main tool for ensuring secure supplies is the Capacity Market, which secures the capacity required to meet peak demand in a range of scenarios through auctions held four years and one year ahead of delivery. The auctions which have taken place this year have secured the majority of the UK’s capacity needs out to 2024/25 at a low cost. Electricity interconnection is also an important part of the UK’s energy strategy, delivering lower costs for consumers, increased energy security, and better integrated low-carbon generation. Moreover, electricity interconnectors can also contribute to security of supply by providing access to a wider pool of generation across different markets.

In terms of gas, the UK benefits from highly diverse and flexible sources, including indigenous production, six international gas pipelines with Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands, and three Liquified Natural Gas terminals. This diversity contributes to our strong security of supply and resilience to disruptions (such as severe weather conditions) even for an extended period. The UK also has a number of gas storage facilities, which act as a source of system flexibility when responding to short-run changes in supply and demand.