Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make representations to the National Infrastructure Commission on assessing the potential merits of building ultra-super critical coal-fired power stations in the UK.

The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) will have a mandate to examine all sectors of economic infrastructure, including energy. The NIC will shortly undertake work on a National Infrastructure Assessment, which will set out the UK’s infrastructure needs for the next 10-30 years.

Coal fired power stations without abatement are not consistent with meeting our decarbonisation objectives. This is why the Government has committed to consulting on phasing out unabated coal by 2025 and to restricting the amount of coal generation in 2023.