Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield on 3 November (HL11119), what proportion of the solar panels being used in the UK are manufactured domestically or in Europe.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department does not hold this information.
Several small firms based across the UK are involved in assembling conventional solar panels at a small scale as well as more innovative, building-integrated roof slates, and thin film technology that can also suit structurally lighter roofs. Several other firms also produce mounting structures and composite electrical equipment for ground-mounted and rooftop solar installations.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the solar panels imported over the last three years were made in China; and whether they have plans to increase the proportion of solar panels manufactured domestically.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Department does not hold this information. HMRC publishes the value and mass of solar panels imported, by country, on its data portal at www.uktradeinfo.com/trade-data/ots-custom-table/.
While the UK has no large-scale conventional solar manufacturing, the Solar Roadmap sets out a number of actions to strengthen domestic supply chains, such as considering the case to further support companies looking to scale up the production of innovative solar technologies and balance of system components, and an online directory to make it easier for solar manufacturers to locate their operations in the UK.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government by what date they expect the National Grid to have sufficiently updated capacity to use or store the power available from renewable sources.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We are working closely with Ofgem and National Energy System Operator (NESO) to deliver an electricity network ready for clean power by 2030 and beyond, accelerating infrastructure delivery by reforming planning, regulation and supply chains. The same is true for electricity storage where government has set out capacity ranges in the Clean Power Action Plan and has introduced measures to support this, such as the long duration electricity storage (LDES) cap and floor investment support scheme.
Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the blades used for wind turbines imported into the UK over the last three years have been made in (1) China, and (2) the rest of the world.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Whilst the Government does not hold data on specific importation dates, the majority of all blades used in wind turbines that have become operational in the last three years in the UK have been manufactured in the UK or supplied from Europe.