Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to Gridwatch.co.uk figures, for what reason the proportion of imported energy was over 25% on 25 February 2024.
Answered by Graham Stuart
On 25 February 2024, low wind generation in GB combined with high wind generation in Europe supported a price differential with Europe which led to higher imports. Interconnectors import when prices in GB are higher than on the other side of the interconnector.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2024 to Question 7768 on Oil: Refineries, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery on imports.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The owners of Grangemouth refinery, Petroineos, recently announced that they were putting in place the enabling works for a future transition to an import terminal. Petroineos have not taken a decision on when refining operations will cease but they anticipate they will continue until at least May 2025.
The impact of a cessation of refining operations on UK imports will depend on the supply and demand for fuels at the time. The Government’s Net Zero policies to increase use of electric vehicles and renewable transport fuels, will progressively reduce demand for conventional fuels.
The UK already both imports and exports fuels to balance demand and supply. The Petroineos plans should continue to ensure that customer needs are met.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has an estimate of how much CO2 was produced in the (a) manufacture and (b) installation of one gigawatt of offshore wind power within the UK in the last 12 months.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department does not publish information related to this request directly, however, the IPCC and UNECE have published estimates related to this request here:
https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/ipcc_wg3_ar5_annex-iii.pdf#page=7
https://unece.org/sed/documents/2021/10/reports/life-cycle-assessment-electricity-generation-options
Both estimates demonstrate that the lifecycle CO2 impact of generating electricity from offshore wind is significantly lower than fossil fuels.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
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 a comparative assessment of UK electricity prices compared to those charged in the United States.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Domestic and industrial electricity prices for countries that are members of the International Energy Agency (IEA) are published in Quarterly Energy Prices tables 5.5.1 and 5.3.1 respectively.
Table 5.5.1: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/international-domestic-energy-prices and Table 5.3.1: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/international-industrial-energy-prices
Average electricity prices in the United States are among the lowest in the IEA, below those in the UK, and they have been one of the 5 countries with the lowest prices across the IEA since the mid-2000s. Electricity prices vary by locality in the United States based on the availability of power plants and fuels, local fuel costs, and pricing regulations.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many jobs have been created in the UK to manufacture wind turbine (a) motors and (b) blades in the last 12 months.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government does not hold this data.
The Office for National Statistics estimate that the offshore wind sector employed around 10,600 people across the UK in 2021.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
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 government's budget for carbon capture and storage expenditure over the next five years.
Answered by Graham Stuart
In the 2023 Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced an unprecedented £20 billion investment in the early development of carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS). The quantum of spend within a given period will depend on the outcome of commercial negotiations and will be subject to confirmation at the next and subsequent spending reviews.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many jobs have been created in the UK to manufacture solar panels in the last 12 months.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Office for National Statistics publishes estimates on the low carbon and renewable energy economy. This data does not provide a breakdown of jobs created to manufacture solar panels specifically, but the latest report (for 2021) estimates around 200 jobs were created in manufacturing for the solar sector.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much and what proportion of the average retail pump price for a litre of petrol is tax as of 11 September 2023.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As off 11 September 2023, average retail pump price for petrol was 153.1 pence/litre the total tax for this was 78.47 pence/litre or 51.3% of the pump price. This is comprised of fuel duty, currently held at the reduced rate of 52.95 pence and VAT amounting to 25.52 pence.
At Spring Budget 2023 the government announced continued support for households and businesses by maintaining the rates of fuel duty at the same levels for an additional 12 months, by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut and cancelling the planned inflation increase for 2023-24. That represents a saving for drivers this year of overall around £5bn and for the average car driver around £100 and around £200 since the 5p cut was introduced.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the capacity of the UK electricity grid by the end of 2025.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The electricity network must have enough capacity to support peak electricity demand. The Electricity Networks Strategic Framework outlines that peak electricity demand is expected to be around 60GW by 2025 in Great Britain.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what comparative estimate he has made of the costs of carbon tax and emissions trading on steel production in (a) the UK, (b) Germany and (c) China.
Answered by Graham Stuart
UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) industrial participants, such as those in the steel sector, receive free allocations limiting their exposure to the carbon price and mitigating the risk of carbon leakage.
Steel production in Germany is subject to the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) which operates under similar rules and with a similar market price to the UK ETS. Carbon costs are comparable, although will be impacted by the performance of individual steel installations relative to benchmarks. The EU ETS price has been operating at a premium to the UK ETS price for several months.
China’s National Emissions Trading Scheme currently only applies to the power sector and does not directly cover industrial installations such as steel.