Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when his Department plans to make an annoucement on the future use of domestic hydrogen.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is working closely with industry and regulators to support a range of research, development and testing projects. This includes pioneering hydrogen heating consumer trials, designed to determine the feasibility, costs and convenience of using hydrogen as an alternative to natural gas for heating.
The knowledge and experience gained in delivering trials in communities, together with the results of our wider R&D and testing programme, will enable the Government to take strategic decisions in 2026 on the role of hydrogen in decarbonising heat.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to encourage private sector funding for renewables.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Contracts for Difference scheme is the Government’s main mechanism for supporting investment in new low-carbon electricity generation projects in Great Britain. This month we will be launching the Allocation Round 5, for which Government has set an initial budget of £205 million. Allocation rounds will now run annually to accelerate deployment and investment in renewable generation.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the impact of inflation on the delivery of the Energy Company Obligation.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
The Government is continually monitoring delivery and developments in the ECO market, and if the Government determine that further action is required then, it will explore all options available.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether people who are applying for Alternative Fund fuel bill support can submit receipts for fuel purchased after the date on which the portal was opened.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
Yes, receipts used as evidence of alternative fuel use as part of an application to the Alternative Fuel Payment Alternative Fund must show a date of purchase between September 2022 and the end of the application window on 31 May 2023.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of (a) the completeness of postcode data supplied to energy companies for administrating the Domestic Alternative Fuel Payment Scheme, (b) whether postcodes SY23 4UA and 4UB were included in that data and (c) the effectiveness of the scheme in ensuring that all eligible households have received payments.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
To minimise the number of electrically heated homes which may be paid the Alternative Fuel Payment, Government has filtered households based on if their local area predominantly uses electricity for heating. It is right that Government ensures value for money for the taxpayer. This means that households in these areas which do use alternative fuels will not receive the payment automatically but are still eligible to apply through the Alternative Fund.
Xoserve published data showing which postcodes are off the gas grid: https://www.xoserve.com/media/fadn4tnc/off-gas-live-postcodes-2022.xlsx?term=Off-gas.
Neither postcode referenced is in this data set.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether people with feed-in tariff agreements for existing renewable energy systems are eligible for the smart export guarantee for new renewable energy generating systems.
Answered by Graham Stuart
People are eligible provided the new installation meets the eligibility requirements of the Smart Export Guarantee.
Should the new installation be an extension to an original Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) installation which takes it over the scheme’s 5MW capacity threshold, the original installation would no longer be eligible for FIT payments.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of enabling people on feed-in tariffs who export more than 50 per cent of their electricity to the grid to receive compensation for electricity exported above the 50 per cent threshold.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Feed-in Tariffs legislation enables householders to move from the “deemed” 50% export rate to receive payment on all the electricity exported to the grid. This would require the householder to install a smart meter to take the export readings.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether people on feed-in tariffs will be able to move to the smart export guarantee when their contracts come to an end.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Generators will be able to move onto the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) when their Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) contract comes to an end. Under the FIT legislation, generators are already able to opt out of receiving FIT export payments and receive a SEG export tariff.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate his Department has made of the number of households in Ceredigion that cannot benefit from smart metering because of inadequate connectivity.
Answered by Graham Stuart
As many households and small businesses as possible should benefit from smart metering.
The Data Communications Company (DCC), which operates the national communications infrastructure for smart metering, is obligated under its licence to provide coverage to at least 99.25% of premises across Great Britain. The energy regulator Ofgem is responsible for ensuring the DCC complies with its obligations.
The Government does not hold information on network coverage at a constituency level.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the number and proportion of installers who are registered to undertake ECO4 measures accept applications for support from park home households.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme is a requirement placed on larger energy suppliers, and is fully focussed on supporting low income and vulnerable households in receiving energy efficiency measures.
Under ECO, suppliers/installers decide where to install measures based on property suitability and the cost-effectiveness of installing there. Government estimates that under ECO4, around 800,000 measures may be installed in around 450,000 households.
While park home households are within scope for ECO4, the Government does not become involved with the private contractual decisions of suppliers and installers, nor does it collect data on the number of accepted park home applications by these parties.