Asked by: Lord Ravensdale (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decision in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan to allow only 700 megawatts of additional Scottish onshore wind capacity to connect to the grid between 2031 and 2035.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The regional capacity breakdowns for transmission connected technologies required for 2035 as set out in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, connections reform annex, have been developed using ranges from the NESO Future Energy Scenarios 2024 net zero aligned scenarios.
The ‘Future Energy Scenarios: Pathways to Net Zero 2025’ document outlines NESO’s methodology in full detail.
Asked by: Lord Ravensdale (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have undertaken an impact assessment of the decision to cap the supply of projects in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan and the risk of driving up bills by reducing competition.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The capacity ranges set out in the Action Plan are not intended to cap supply of projects but, amongst other things, help prioritise the reform of the connections process. Today’s connections queue is significantly oversubscribed, with large volumes of some technologies and less of others.
It is vital that Contracts for Difference (CfD) continues to offer value for money to consumers and continue to deliver low prices, which is why auctions are designed to keep the process competitive.
Our reforms are aimed at improving the ability of the CfD mechanism to support a large volume of renewable capacity – particularly offshore wind – whilst maintaining competition, which provides value for money for consumers.
Asked by: Lord Ravensdale (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the civil nuclear new build sector was not identified as a key sector to be included within their Energy Skills Passport, launched on 22 January; and what plans they have to include it, given the UK's nuclear sector needs 40,000 net new entrants by 2030 to meet its growth ambitions.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department is a strategic partner of the Energy Skills Passport project in collaboration with industry and Scottish Government. The passport is an industry led initiative overseen by Renewable UK and Offshore Energy UK and supported by the UK and Scottish Governments.
The Department and Scottish government are working with RUK/OEUK to identify how best to expand the passport in the future.
Through the Nuclear Skills Plan, we are committed to encouraging career transitions and accelerating learning and upskilling for new entrants into the nuclear sector.
Asked by: Lord Ravensdale (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the outcome of the prior information notice (PIN) exploring building a further large-scale nuclear power station, published in May 2024; whether they will list the potential vendors who expressed an interest; and what assessment they have made of the future policy for large-scale nuclear development in the UK.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Prior Information Notice was published to support policy exploration under the previous Government and has since closed with 10 responses. The names of the organisations which responded is commercially sensitive. No decision has yet been taken on whether to pursue a future large-scale project.
Asked by: Lord Ravensdale (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish the consultation on nuclear power being classed as environmentally sustainable in the green taxonomy; and what plans they have to make nuclear energy eligible for green financing.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
On 14th November 2024, the Government published a consultation to assess the value case for a UK Green Taxonomy, which closed on 6 of February 2025. The Government is reviewing responses and will provide a Government Response on next steps in due course.
Asked by: Lord Ravensdale (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in reducing the time taken to process Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) applications, and particularly SAP Appendix Q applications.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) application processes ensure that effective and innovative products are rewarded in the SAP methodology and thereby in Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and retrofit schemes. Officials are working to reduce delays in the SAP applications process, including Appendix Q. By collaborating with commercial partners and gathering stakeholder feedback, officials are also looking at ways to continuously improve the turnaround times of SAP applications and reform the overall service.
Asked by: Lord Ravensdale (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the sites currently listed in the current nuclear National Policy Statement EN-6, will be included in the forthcoming EN-7.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department recently consulted on a proposed policy for siting new nuclear power stations after 2025, which set out a criteria based approach. While EN-7 will be the primary basis for development consent decisions on nuclear power stations after 2025, we recognise that the sites listed in EN-6 are likely to retain many inherent advantages. EN-6 will not be withdrawn, and we expect it to remain an important and relevant consideration in any planning decision for projects at any of the sites listed in EN-6.
Asked by: Lord Ravensdale (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the rise of greenhouse gas emissions associated with fertiliser production since 1990; and what plans they have for lowering such emissions.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
UK territorial greenhouse gas emissions from the fertiliser manufacturing industry between 1990 and 2020 (the latest available year data) have fluctuated between 525 and 812 thousand tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent, with no clear trend.
To reduce future emissions the Government is promoting better nutrient use efficiency through the Sustainable Farming Incentive. The Government is supporting the development of new technologies to manufacture less environmentally damaging fertiliser products through the Farming Innovation Programme and plans to reform the fertiliser regulatory regime.
Asked by: Lord Ravensdale (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, what plans they have to implement the recommendation in the report Mission Zero: Independent Review of Net Zero, published on 26 September 2022, to bring forward to 2033 the target to phase out the installation of new gas boilers; and when they will make an announcement about any such plans.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Heat and Buildings Strategy set out our aim to phase out the installation of new and replacement natural gas boilers from 2035, to ensure all heating systems used in 2050 are compatible with net zero. This would mean when consumers replace their heating source, they replace it with a low-carbon or low-carbon ready appliance.
We are considering the recommendations made by my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Kingswood in the Independent Review of Net Zero, and will respond in due course.