Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
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 British energy security strategy published in April 2022, what plans he has to publish a consultation on changes to the Renewables Obligation.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Alongside the Government’s recent announcement about extending the Energy Intensive Industries (EII) Compensation scheme for 3 years, the Government intends to consult on the related EII exemption scheme shortly. This scheme provides exemption from a significant portion of Contract for Differences (CfD), Renewables Obligation (RO), and Feed-in Tariff (FiT) costs.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will consult Parliament on whether to extend Government funding for the burning of pellets for fresh wood at Drax beyond 2027.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
There are no intentions to extend any contracts under the Renewables Obligation or Contracts for Difference schemes. In November 2021 the Government announced it would develop a business model to support bio-based power generation with carbon capture and storage. Any implementation of this would be subject to the appropriate parliamentary procedures.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
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 potential impact of HVO fuels on the Government's net-zero emissions target.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) is one type of biofuel which can be used to replace fossil diesel. HVO has been eligible for support under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) scheme for more than a decade. In 2020, 38 million litres of biodiesel of HVO were supplied under the RTFO in the UK. As part of the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, the Department for Transport committed to work with stakeholders to review the role of biofuels in compatible vehicles and any potential measures to remove barriers to their deployment.
BEIS publishes a range of statistics on renewable energy in Energy Trends at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/energy-trends-section-6-renewables and in DUKES at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/renewable-sources-of-energy-chapter-6-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of carbon neutral fuel; and if he will publish the data his Department holds on that matter.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
BEIS publishes a range of statistics on renewable energy in Energy Trends at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/energy-trends-section-6-renewables and in DUKES at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/renewable-sources-of-energy-chapter-6-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes
The Department for Transport regularly publishes data on renewable fuel supplied under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, including the carbon intensity of these fuels.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to his answer of 25 November 2021 to question 75086, what steps he plans to take to make a comparative assessment of the effect of burning (a) wood pellets and (b) coal at the Drax power station on achieving net zero in the absence of information on the carbon transport costs of either process.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Renewables Obligation Order (RO) and Contracts for Difference (CfD) sustainability criteria require that electricity generation from biomass does not exceed a set greenhouse gas threshold and produces life-cycle emission savings:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/renewables-obligation-sustainability-criteria.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with Ofgem on (a) differing forms of power production, (b) their differing costs to produce power and (c) the influence of those on setting the market price of a MWHr.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Renewables Obligation Order (RO) and Contracts for Difference (CfD) sustainability criteria require that electricity generation from biomass does not exceed a set greenhouse gas threshold and produces life-cycle emission savings:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/renewables-obligation-sustainability-criteria.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
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 reduction of CO2 emissions in tonnes as a result of Drax being in receipt of £832 million in direct Government subsidies to biomass in 2020.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Renewables Obligation and Contracts for Difference Scheme currently requires that solid biomass used to generate electricity does not exceed a greenhouse gas emission of 200 kg per MWh. Emissions from coal generation in 2020 were equivalent to 997 kg per MWh, so biomass currently delivers at least an 80% greenhouse gas saving over coal.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 cost to (a) the public purse and (b) each household of renewable subsidies to (i) the Drax power station and (ii) all power stations that burn biomass for energy.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Renewables Obligation and Contracts for Difference schemes support Drax and other power stations that burn biomass to generate renewable electricity. There is no cost to the public purse as both schemes are paid for by compulsory levies on electricity suppliers. In 2020/21, the total cost to suppliers in Great Britain of the support for Drax under the Renewables Obligation was £467.2m, and the cost for all power stations, including Drax, that burn biomass for energy was £914.5m[1]. Payments to individual biomass generating stations supported by the Contracts for Difference scheme are published by the Low Carbon Contracts Company on their Data Portal[2]. The Government does not assess the cost to individual householders of the support specifically for stations using biomass.
[1] Support under the Renewables Obligation is through tradeable certificates. The figures, which are provisional as not all the certificates may have been issued yet, give the cost to suppliers based on Ofgem’s certificate report as at 14 January 2022 from their Renewables and CHP Register at: https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportViewer.aspx?ReportPath=/DatawarehouseReports/CertificatesExternalPublicDataWarehouse&ReportVisibility=1&ReportCategory=2
[2] The Low Carbon Contracts Company’s Data Portal is at: https://www.lowcarboncontracts.uk/dashboards/cfd/actuals-dashboards/historical-dashboard
Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what funding the Government (a) has provided and (b) is planning to allocate to offshore wind projects in Scotland.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK is a world leader in the deployment of offshore wind and development in Scottish waters, as supported through the Contracts for Difference Scheme and the Renewables Obligation Certificate. The Crown Estate Scotland’s recently announced “ScotWind” seabed leasing round, which released almost 25GW of additional capacity in Scottish waters, including 15GW of floating offshore wind. This places Scotland in a good position to continue benefitting from the growth of offshore wind into the 2030s and beyond.
To continue to capitalise on this booming sector, the Government is investing up to £160 million for new large-scale floating offshore wind ports and factories. This funding, boosted by private sector investment, will develop industrial capacity capable of mass-producing floating offshore wind turbines and installing them out at sea, creating thousands of new jobs in the UK’s industrial heartlands. This investment also presents huge opportunities for Scotland’s coastal communities as well as communities up and down the UK, and will build on Scotland's lead as a technology hub for offshore wind.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what renewable subsidies for burning wood pellets were paid to Drax in each of the last 10 years under the (a) Renewables Obligation and (b) Contracts for Difference scheme.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Information is not available on the support given specifically for the generation of electricity from the burning of wood pellets.
The figures in the table below give the value of the support under the Renewables Obligation for generation from all the types of biomass used by Drax.
Year | Notional value of support under the Renewables Obligation[1] |
2011/12 | £50.5m |
2012/13 | £21.3m |
2013/14 | £181.3m |
2014/15 | £399.1m |
2015/16 | £548.1m |
2016/17 | £547.9m |
2017/18 | £399.2m |
2018/19 | £513.3m |
2019/20 | £508.9m |
2020/21 | £508.5m[2] |
Drax has received support under the Contracts for Difference scheme since 21 December 2016. Payments to individual projects are published by the Low Carbon Contracts Company on their Data Portal[3].
[1] Support under the Renewables Obligation is through tradeable certificates. The figures give the notional value of the support, based on Ofgem’s certificate report as at 14 January 2022 from their Renewables and CHP Register at: https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportViewer.aspx?ReportPath=/DatawarehouseReports/CertificatesExternalPublicDataWarehouse&ReportVisibility=1&ReportCategory=2
[2] Provisional figure as all the certificates for 2020/21 may not have been issued yet.
[3] The Low Carbon Contracts Company’s Data Portal is at: https://www.lowcarboncontracts.uk/dashboards/cfd/actuals-dashboards/historical-dashboard