Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to amend the Energy Bill to give further powers to the North Sea Transition Authority in relation to carbon capture and storage.

The Government tabled amendments to the Energy Bill on 16 May 2023 to provide the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) with powers to require carbon storage licensees to retain and report information and samples gathered as part of activities associated with the geological storage of carbon dioxide. These powers will enable the NSTA to publicly disclose this information after a suitable confidentiality period. They will ensure valuable information collected by storage licensees is appropriately preserved and, in due course, made available for the benefit of the sector more broadly.