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 - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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 - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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 - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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 - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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 - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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.
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 allow contracts with Russian entities to be broken without becoming liable for damages.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Contracts remain a commercial matter for businesses. Where businesses seek to sever contracts with Russian entities, we recommend seeking independent legal advice. The Department for International Trade have expanded its Export Support Service (ESS) to act as a single point of enquiry for businesses and traders with questions relating to the situation in Ukraine and Russia. Any business that has question about trading with Ukraine or Russia can ask the export support team by visiting the GOV.UK website, or call our helpline using the number 0300 303 8955.