Asked by: Lord Whitty (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government which technologies are most appropriate for gas-based District Heating Schemes (DHS) to adopt in order to contribute to national decarbonisation targets; what estimate they have made of the approximate cost of the transition by DHS to low-carbon heat; and what methods of financing could be used to support this transition.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Heat networks can use a variety of low-carbon heat sources, for example large heat pumps, industrial waste heat and geothermal. No one solution will be appropriate for every DHS - a mix of technologies will support heat decarbonisation.
Whilst the capital cost of many of these low-carbon sources is higher than gas combustion technologies there are a range of private financing options. The Government has itself invested £288m in the decarbonisation of heat networks through the Green Heat Network Fund.
Longer term the Government intends to introduce Heat Networks Zoning by 2025 to further grow the number of low-carbon heat networks across England and in ‘Powering Up Britain’ the Government committed to outlining a clear approach to price rebalancing by the end of 2024, to lower the running costs of these lower-carbon technologies.
Asked by: Lord Whitty (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional capacity they forecast is needed on the National Grid to accommodate the level of demand from the anticipated increase in the number of electric vehicles by 2030; and what additional capital costs are required by such increase in capacity for transmission and distribution per annum up to 2030.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Electricity Networks Strategic Framework sets out the Government’s approach to readying the network for the increase in peak electricity demand anticipated as we electrify transport and other sectors. We expect peak electricity demand to increase to approximately 80 GW in 2030 of which electric vehicle demand makes up approximately 10%, before any demand side response. Due to existing spare distribution network capacity, we do not expect this to lead to any significant rise in distribution network capital costs before 2030. We expect £30 billion of transmission network investment between 2023 and 2030.
Asked by: Lord Whitty (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in relation to their targets for decarbonisation by (1) 2030, and (2) 2035, what approximate proportion of homes they estimate are likely to be powered by (a) hydrogen-based gas, (b) air or ground source heat pumps, and (c) by other forms of electrification.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
A range of technologies will be required to decarbonise the way we heat our homes. The precise mix of technologies in 2035 is unclear, in part because strategic decisions on the role for hydrogen heating are still to be taken. Heat Pumps and Heat Networks will have an important role to play in all future scenarios with at least 7.1 million homes using heat pumps in 2035.