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
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made an estimate of the number of energy projects waiting to be connected to the national grid.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Data from the Electricity System Operator (ESO) shows that there were 1530 energy projects in the transmission connection queue at the end of February 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: 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, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to households of curtailing wind generation due to a lack of grid capacity.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The National Grid Electricity System Operator is responsible for managing constraints and annual network constraint costs for 2022 were £2.0bn (2023 prices). Constraints are a natural part of operating an efficient electricity system, and balancing the network by curtailing wind and turning up alternative generation can be an efficient way to manage these.
Necessary grid infrastructure improvements are being made to manage the level of constraints on the system and ensure the UK's homes can be powered by clean, green energy in future.
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, if she will make an estimate of the revenue that would accrue to the Scottish Government as a consequence of the additional energy transmission from Scotland that will be put on the national grid under the transitional centralised strategic network plan.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The transitional centralised strategic network plan (tCSNP) will connect offshore wind projects from the ScotWind seabed leasing round. Once operational, projects will pay rent to the Crown Estate Scotland which pays its profits to Scottish Government. The amount of revenue from rent will depend upon the amount of electricity generated.
Independent analysis commissioned by the Electricity System Operator suggests that, by 2035, recommendations in the CSNP report could add up to £5.22 billion to the Scottish economy and support an average of 6,000 jobs each year.
Written Evidence Dec. 19 2023
Inquiry: UK RegulatorsFound: UKR0084 - UK Regulators National Grid Written Evidence
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with the National Grid on the proposed pylons from Norwich to Tilbury.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation, on behalf of the Secretary of State, has formally been consulted regarding the proposed pylons from Norwich to Tilbury. This was following a request made by the National Grid Electricity Transmission to the Planning Inspectorate.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to speed up the process for connecting infrastructure projects to the National Grid, following reports that UK energy companies are taking their investments abroad.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is working with Ofgem and network companies to accelerate network connections and halve the end-to-end build time for new transmission network infrastructure. The Connections Action Plan, published in November 2023, aims to reduce transmission connection delays from 5 years to no more than 6 months after the date requested by the customer and release over 100 Gigawatts of network capacity. Projects that are able to connect faster are already being offered earlier connection dates, including 10 Gigawatts of battery storage being offered an average of a four year advance in their connection.
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 renewable energy projects are awaiting a decision on their application to connect to the national grid as of 28 February 2024.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The latest data from the Electricity System Operator, from 31 January 2024, reports that there were 40 renewable energy projects awaiting transmission connection offers.
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 energy infrastructure projects comply with HM Treasury's publication entitled The Green Book, published in March 2022.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Green Book provides standard guidance for evaluating benefits and outcomes of projects. Transmission Owners follow a robust assessment process and use national guidance, primarily the National Policy Statement for Electricity Networks Infrastructure. Their proposals are subject to an independent high-level assessment of their ability to meet electricity network needs by the Electricity System Operator. Ofgem expects Transmission Owners to reference the Green Book in their submissions, but its application is not enforced and there is no requirement in the Planning Act 2008 for a Green Book assessment to be included in Development Consent Order applications.