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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has held with Ofgem on the potential merits of (a) pumped hydro storage and (b) other long duration storage technologies.

We are working closely with Ofgem to develop the next Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan, due for publication in spring this year. This will set out the merits of large scale and longer duration electricity storage as well as the next steps for addressing any barriers to deployment.