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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan 2021, published in July 2021, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a requirement to provide contract periods beyond the current two-year award periods to incentivise the construction of new long duration storage technologies; and if he will make a statement.

Alongside the 2021 Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan, we published a call for evidence on large-scale, long-duration electricity storage designed to help us build our understanding of the specific challenges faced, and gather information about potential ways to address them, including which interventions (if any) would be most appropriate to support the deployment of such storage. We will continue to work closely with industry and other stakeholders as we consider the challenges and opportunities of different options for intervention.