Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government further to the publication of Zero Hour’s Nature and Climate Declaration on 1 November, what steps are they taking (1) to reduce the full scope of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions reductions in line with limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius, (2) to halt and reverse biodiversity decline by 2030, and (3) to deliver a more ambitious and integrated environmental protection and decarbonisation plan.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to delivering net zero emissions by 2050. This is consistent with the Paris Agreement goal to limit global warming to well below 2°C and pursue efforts towards 1.5°C.
The Environment Act 2021 commits the Government to halting the decline in species in England by 2030, in addition to setting at least one long term target for biodiversity. The Environment Act’s package of new policies, alongside other measures including the Nature for Climate Fund and new Environmental Land Management schemes, will help the Government to reach its targets and tackle climate change and biodiversity loss.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much consumers were paid back from renewable energy schemes signed up to the Contracts for Difference schemes in the two quarters since April this year.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Renewable generators signed up to the Contracts for Difference scheme make payments to energy suppliers, rather than directly to consumers.
The total CfD payments made to suppliers relating to the last two quarters was:
£258,813,576.63.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government what knowledge they had, if any, of renewable energy company Drax purchasing licences to cut down trees from primary forests in Canada to make wood pellets for its power station in Yorkshire, as alleged in the BBC's Panorama investigation, which aired on 3 October.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The regulator Ofgem is responsible for auditing the sustainability of biomass used by biomass electricity generators which receive support under the Renewables Obligation and has a process in place for this. As is routine, Ofgem is establishing whether the biomass sustainability criteria have been met by the generator. These criteria ensure that only sustainable biomass is used to produce renewable electricity. Sustainability information is publicly available on Ofgem’s website.
To receive support generators must follow sustainable management practices that require the maintenance and replanting of the forest, demonstration that deforestation is not occurring where they source material from, and that biodiversity, soil and water are protected, among other requirements.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much the Contracts for Difference Scheme will contribute to the Energy Bill Support Scheme in its first year of operation.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Funding for the Energy Bills Support Scheme is provided by HM Treasury. It is not provided by the Contracts for Difference scheme, which is the Government’s primary method for supporting new low-carbon electricity generation projects in Great Britain.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure energy consumers benefit from low carbon energy generators paying back the difference between market price and strike price under Contracts for Difference; and how much money has been paid back to date.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC), which administers Contracts for Difference (CfD), carries out a financial reconciliation of the scheme’s accounts at the end of each fiscal quarter. In April of this year, the LCCC returned £108.3m to British suppliers in respect of repayments made by generators since last autumn. Repayments to suppliers should ultimately be reflected in the tariffs they offer their customers. This is a commercial decision for each supplier.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 8 April (HL7358), what is the source for their figure of “less than 1% of total generation capacity”; and whether the economic constraints referred to have changed as a result of price rises over the last year.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The source of the assessment of the potential for hydroelectric power in England and Wales is the Hydropower Resource Assessment Report Version 13.0, October 2010.
Despite the level of current wholesale electricity prices, hydro project developers generally require long term power purchase agreements.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 8 April (HL7358), whether hydro power companies are eligible for the Smart Export Guarantee; and if so, what the mechanism is for them to approach electricity suppliers.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Smart Export Guarantee came into force on 1 January 2020 and requires most electricity suppliers to offer a tariff to buy electricity exported by small low-carbon generators, including small hydro. Licensed suppliers with more than 150,000 customers are required to offer at least one SEG tariff to small-scale, low-carbon generators.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 8 April (HL7358), what the process is for renewable energy generators and storage providers to apply for the exemption from business rates.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As set out in the Spring Statement 2022, the green plant and machinery exemption applies from April 2022. The Valuation Office Agency will implement this exemption. There will be no need for renewable energy generators or storage providers to apply.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what data they hold on the proportion of wood pellets used in the Drax Power Station that are sourced from British boreal and temperate forests; and what assessment they have made of the impact of this on keeping those forests intact.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Data on biomass sourcing is publicly available on Ofgem’s website and information for the latest available year can be accessed there.
The UK only supports sustainable biomass and generators only receive subsidies for biomass that complies with strict sustainability criteria.
UK forests are protected by forestry and Environmental Impact legislation in the four administrations of the UK together with the requirements of the UK Forestry Standard, while we have committed to increase annual UK planting rates to 30,000 hectares by the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have updated their assessment of the potential for hydroelectric power, further to the rise in electricity prices; and what assessment they have made of the benefits of introducing a scheme like the Contracts for Difference scheme to encourage the deployment of small-scale hydropower systems.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government acknowledges the valuable contribution of hydropower to the UK energy mix over many decades. However, economic and environmental constraints mean that in practice the viable remaining resource is less than 1% of total generation capacity, hence it will likely not be a significant contributor to our future generation plans.
The Smart Export Guarantee puts a requirement on most electricity suppliers to offer to buy electricity that is exported to the grid by small-scale generators, and as announced by my Rt hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Autumn 2021 Budget and recent Spring Statement, business rates will include an exemption for eligible plant and machinery used in the generation and storage of renewable energy from 1 April 2022 until 31 March 2035.