Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government which nuclear sites that have been in the process of decommissioning are being considered for new nuclear projects, including radioisotope production, as set out in the Interim Report 2025 of the Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce, published on 11 August.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is designating a new National Policy Statement for nuclear energy generation, EN-7, which will empower developers to identify suitable sites for new nuclear projects using a robust set of siting criteria.
Separately, last year Great British Energy - Nuclear acquired the Oldbury and Wylfa sites. No decisions have yet been taken on specific projects at these sites. Any nuclear project would require development consent, subject to EN-7 once designated.
The Government is also aware of developer or community interest in nuclear projects at several other sites, including those being decommissioned. These include Pioneer Park (Moorside), Trawsfynydd (via Cwmni Egino), Hartlepool, and Dungeness.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the Interim Report 2025 of the Nuclear Regulation Taskforce, published on 11 August, what consideration they are giving to re-examining the UK’s approach to risk management in the nuclear sector to ensure delivery of projects in a timely manner.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is actively considering the findings of the Interim Report to help inform reforms that support timely delivery of Nuclear Projects.
'This includes working with industry and regulators to look at how regulation is applied in a proportionate way to support faster deployment of projects while maintaining safety levels at UK sites and continuing to meet internationally recognised standards. The government awaits the independent Taskforce’s final report, due in the Autumn, and will respond to its recommendations in due course.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the existing energy storage capacity of (1) hydroelectric pump storage facilities at full capacity, (2) battery storage facilities, and (3) other methods of electricity storage; and what are the target figures for expanding each category in the next 10 years.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Power capacity statistics for energy storage capacity in the UK can be found in the annually published Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES), in particular Table 5.16.[1] The government’s Clean Power Action Plan[2] sets out ranges for the energy storage capacity we could need by 2030, as informed by advice from the National Energy System Operator (NESO). While there are no fixed targets set for 2035, NESO regularly publishes Future Energy Scenarios which set out pathways to Net Zero in 2050 and include energy storage capacity
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-chapter-5-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/clean-power-2030-action-plan
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the average cost per domestic electricity consumer in the most recent year for which data are available of constraint payments made to renewable power companies.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The National Energy System Operator (NESO) balances Great Britain’s electricity system, recovering costs through Balancing Services Use of System (BSUoS) charges. These include payments to generators to adjust output due to network constraints covering both turn-up and turn-down actions.
While Government holds aggregate data on constraint payments, it does not hold data by technology type.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reconfigure the electricity grid network in the UK to minimise the need to constrain electricity generation by wind turbines to prevent overload.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Government is implementing a strategic network planning approach led by the National Energy System Operator (NESO). This includes two previous published plans, as well as the upcoming Centralised Strategic Network Plan (CSNP), to be published by NESO in 2027. These strategic network plans take a holistic approach, with economic cost - including constraints costs - being one of the key criteria in determining the recommended transmission network design.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to expand the number and capacity of hydroelectric pump storage facilities in (1) Wales, (2) England, and (3) Scotland; how many such facilities have been approved and are under construction; and how many are awaiting planning approval.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan sets an ambition of 4-6GW of long duration electricity storage (LDES) capacity, which includes pumped storage hydropower (PSH), by 2030. This is being enabled through an LDES cap and floor investment support scheme, which government announced in October 2024 and is being delivered by Ofgem. It is open to projects from all parts of Great Britain.
The British Hydro Association maintains a list of PSH projects under development in Great Britain at the following link: https://british-hydro.org/pumped-storage-hydropower/.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much was paid in each of the past five financial years as constraint payments to wind farm operators to compensate them for having to turn off their wind turbines to avoid the grid being overloaded in (1) England, (2) Scotland and (3) Wales.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The National Energy System Operator (NESO) is responsible for operating Great Britain’s electricity system and managing constraints. NESO publishes monthly constraint costs on their website, which can be found on page 3 of the Monthly Balancing Services Summary (MBSS) dashboard. This data is split by England and Wales and Scotland.
Constraints are a natural part of operating an efficient electricity system and constraint payments are used around the world. However, government is working to reduce the level of constraints and improve energy security by accelerating the delivery of new electricity network infrastructure to increase capacity on the system.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they aim to eliminate the need for constraint payments to wind farm generators, and whether they have secured a contractual agreement with existing wind farm operators for that aim.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The National Energy System Operator (NESO) is responsible for operating Great Britain’s electricity system and managing constraints. Constraints are part of operating an efficient electricity system and constraint payments are used around the world. Government is working to reduce constraints by accelerating the building of new electricity network infrastructure to increase capacity on the system. The Reformed National Pricing package will also address constraints through improved strategic planning and market reforms. An update on these reforms will be published later this year.
Government has not entered into any contractual agreements with existing wind farm operators to eliminate constraint payments.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have regarding the future of the Wylfa nuclear power site on Anglesey.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Great British Energy – Nuclear acquired the site at Wylfa (Ynys Môn/Anglesey) last year. The site has positive attributes for new nuclear, although no decisions have yet been taken on any projects to be deployed at the site. We will set out our plans in due course.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total electricity generation capacity by hydroelectric power plants in (1) England, (2) Scotland, and (3) Wales.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Electricity generation capacity for hydroelectric power plants is published in Energy Trends table 6.1, available on gov.uk.
At the end of 2024 the installed capacity for hydroelectric power plants was: (1) England 43 MW, (2) Scotland 1,668 MW and (3) Wales 168 MW.