Correspondence Mar. 06 2024
Committee: Welsh Affairs Committee (Department: Wales Office)Found: Correspondence between the Chair and National Grid Electricity Transmission concerning Tata Steel HC
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will have discussions with the National Grid on ensuring that the statutory consultation on the Norwich to Tilbury infrastructure project does not take place until the reports by the (a) National Grid's Electricity Systems Operator on The East Anglian Study and (b) Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee following its inquiry entitled A flexible grid for the future are published.
Answered by Graham Stuart
As the statutory consultation process is not led by Government, there have not been discussions between the Secretary of State and National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) on the timing and alignment of its consultation on this project. NGET has however publicly stated that it will ensure that the results of the Electricity System Operator East Anglia study will be considered fully.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions she has had with the National Grid on improving the timetable for connecting infrastructure projects to the national grid.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is working with Ofgem, the Electricity System Operator and network companies to accelerate network connections. Since the Connections Action Plan[1] was published in November 2023, over 40GW of projects have been offered earlier grid connection dates, accelerating up to £40bn of investment. In the coming months we will decide on further action to ensure only viable projects can retain their connection agreements. In addition, from next January a new process will prevent projects being offered a specific connection date until they demonstrate sufficient progress towards connecting to the grid.
[1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/655dd873d03a8d001207fe56/connections-action-plan.pdf
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many projects that have been granted grid access which have (a) stalled and (b) ceased entirely have been removed from the national grid connection queue in the last year.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Data from the Electricity System Operator (ESO) shows that 31 projects have been removed from the transmission connections queue since 1 March 2023. Of these 31 projects, 13 terminated their agreements voluntarily as part of the ESO’s Transmission Entry Capacity (TEC) Amnesty.
As set out at Budget, the ESO has begun the process of inserting delivery milestones into over 1000 connection agreements, enabling it to terminate stalled projects from Autumn 2024. The Government will also work with the ESO and network companies to outline further reforms by summer 2024 to raise barriers to entering and remaining in the queue.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will have discussions with National Grid on ensuring that the statutory consultation on the Norwich to Tilbury infrastructure project does not take place until the Electricity System Operator offshore coordination study has concluded.
Answered by Graham Stuart
As the statutory consultation process is not led by Government, there have not been discussions between the Secretary of State and National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) on the timing and alignment of its consultation on this project. NGET has however publicly stated that it will ensure that the results of the Electricity System Operator East Anglia study will be considered fully.
Written Evidence Jan. 24 2024
Inquiry: Securing the domestic supply chainFound: SUP0032 - Securing the domestic supply chain National Grid Written Evidence
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the proposed additional (a) cable and (b) grid connections will be between (i) Scotland and Scottish Waters and (ii) the rest of the UK as part of the transitional centralised strategic network plan.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Electricity System Operator’s (ESO) report: ‘Beyond 2030: a national blueprint for a decarbonised electricity system’ includes proposals to install new circuits to reinforce the network between Scotland and the rest of Great Britain, helping to connect the ScotWind projects to the Great Britain electricity grid and transmit the electricity on to consumers. The total capacity of the additional links between Scotland and the rest of Great Britain is 6.8GW. More detail is included in the ESO’s report.
Jan. 30 2024
Source Page: Capacity Market auction parameters: letter to National Grid ESO, January 2024Found: Capacity Market auction parameters: letter to National Grid ESO, January 2024
Jan. 31 2024
Source Page: Scottish Government and National Grid ESO around ScotWind: EIR reviewFound: Scottish Government and National Grid ESO around ScotWind: EIR review
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department is taking steps to secure the (a) electricity grid and (b) electric vehicle infrastructure from remote disruption by foreign actors.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Government takes the security of the electricity grid and electric vehicle infrastructure extremely seriously. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero works closely with Ofgem, the National Cyber Security Centre, and operators to strengthen infrastructure against attacks, share threat intelligence, and set clear and robust regulatory standards that are enforced through the Network and Information Systems Regulations 2018.
The 2021 electric vehicle smart charge point regulations include cyber security requirements. These require that all private charge points meet physical tamperproof requirements, check regularly for security updates, and encrypt all communication to and from the charge point.
The Government has recently published a detailed consultation package, 'Delivering a smart and secure electricity system: implementation'. This sets out proposals for minimum security and grid stability requirements for Energy Smart Appliances and load controlling organisations to further mitigate risk.