Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the additional volume of natural gas which would be required to offset the electricity generated by nuclear power in 2022.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
Nuclear power generation scenarios are published in the Energy and Emission Projections here:
Fuel usage in the power sector is published in DUKES here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-chapter-5-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes.
Conversion factors between fuels are published by National Grid here: https://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/gas-transmission/document/128886/download.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the progress on proposals for the Eastern high voltage subsea cable from Scotland to England.
Answered by Iain Stewart - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
I fully support the development of the Eastern High Voltage Direct Current Link.
The UK Government maintains engagement with SSEN Transmission, Scottish Power Transmission and National Grid Electricity Transmission - as well as Ofgem - on this important project.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the readiness of the national grid to accommodate the change in energy mix set out in the Energy Security Strategy; and what steps he is planning to take to help protect the rural landscape in the event that work is required to strengthen the national grid.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
The Government’s British Energy Security Strategy sets out measures to accelerate the connecting onshore network infrastructure required to support targets for electricity generation. These measures could reduce timelines for delivering network infrastructure by around three years.
Communities will retain their voice in decision making and planning decisions will still be robust. The Government has consulted on amending the energy National Policy Statements to strengthen the mitigation of landscape and visual impacts from network infrastructure. This includes the need to follow ‘good design’ principles and a starting presumption to underground electricity cables in designated areas, such as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the time taken for energy projects to be connected to the electricity grid.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
The Government has committed in the British Energy Security Strategy to working closely with Ofgem – the independent regulator - to speed up connections and cut down on the time it takes for new energy projects to be connected to the grid.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason the locational marginal pricing system for grid charges is being proposed before a resolution to the impact of the TNUoS transmission charging regime on Scotland has been achieved.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
The Government will set out the case for long-term reform of British electricity market arrangements as well as an initial assessment of policy options in a summer consultation: Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA), as announced in the British Energy Security Strategy,
REMA will consider a wide range of options for reform to electricity markets and policies; at this point in time no options have been proposed by the Government.
The Government is discussing REMA with the Devolved Administrations and will continue to engage closely as policy options develop under the programme.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure grid infrastructure is developed to support further deployment of floating offshore wind.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
Network regulation, including ensuring security of supply, is a matter for Ofgem, the independent energy regulator. Ofgem uses the RIIO price control framework to incentivise electricity network companies to invest efficiently in the grid – providing a safe, secure and reliable network for all consumers at the lowest possible cost.
As part of the BEIS-led Offshore Transmission Network Review, National Grid Electricity System Operator will shortly publish a Holistic Network Design (HND) which brings together the coordinated planning of wider onshore network reinforcements and the connections for around 23GW of offshore wind, including over 3GW of floating wind.
The objective of the OTNR is to ensure that the transmission connections for offshore wind generation are delivered in the most appropriate way, considering the increased ambition for offshore wind to help achieve net zero. This will be done with a view to finding the appropriate balance between environmental, social and economic costs.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
If he will invoke section 400 of the Insolvency Act 1986 to direct the official receiver to ensure that the power supply for Baglan Energy Park remains connected until a permanent connection to the National Grid is secured.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We understand this is a concerning time for those impacted by the liquidation of the Baglan Group. We cannot offer any further comment at this stage in view of ongoing legal action.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reintroduce the Feed-In Tariff for homeowners investing in solar panels.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
There are no plans to reintroduce the Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) scheme, which closed to new applications in March 2019.
With residential solar panels now over 50% cheaper than in 2011, and as costs fall, it is right that the Government move on from dependence on generous subsidies, that are ultimately levied onto customers. The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) which came into force in January 2020, follows on from the FIT, and gives small- scale low-carbon electricity generators, such as homes with solar panels, the right to be paid for the renewable electricity they export to the grid.
The SEG is a market-driven mechanism designed to pave the way to projects being deployed without subsidies. It reflects the government’s continued commitment to ensuring that low carbon electricity, whether at household level or national level, is central to the transition to the smart and flexible energy systems of the future.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) security, and (2) cost, of energy, in light of the hostilities in Ukraine.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
The Government remains confident that Great Britain’s energy security will be maintained. The Government works closely with Ofgem, National Grid Gas and other key industry organisations to monitor gas supply and demand, and the National Grid Electricity System Operator has the tools it needs to operate the electricity system reliably.
In the past 5 years the UK has met nearly half of its annual gas supply through domestic production, with most imports coming from reliable suppliers such as Norway. Less than 4% of our gas was sourced directly from Russia in 2021.
The Government has experienced gas prices at historic highs reflecting a number of market fundamentals, but also the current uncertain geopolitical situation. The Government is working closely with key international and industry partners to monitor gas supply and demand, and remains confident that Great Britain’s energy security will be maintained.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve the resilience of overhead line transmission of electricity to storm outages; and what steps they intend to take to achieve greater resilience.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy works closely with the National Grid Electricity System Operator, energy infrastructure operators, and the regulator Ofgem to assess the appropriate level of current and future resilience to key assets and infrastructure. Overhead lines are considered as part of a range of options in infrastructure planning.