Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the preparedness of the planning system for the development of green hydrogen production facilities.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Officials are working to ensure the planning system is optimised to support the development of a rapidly expanding UK hydrogen economy. This includes through the BEIS Hydrogen Regulators Forum and bilateral engagement. The Government will continue to work with industry and regulators to identify, prioritise and implement any changes to the existing framework, including addressing any gaps, to support the growth of the hydrogen economy. BEIS recently consulted on the optimality of existing planning arrangements through a consultation on hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure business models and regulation, and is currently reviewing the submitted responses.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to increase the production of low-carbon hydrogen in the UK.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government has doubled its ambition to up to 10GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030, subject to affordability and value for money.
The Government's increased ambition will drive significant private sector investment, delivered by a strong investable proposition through the Hydrogen Production Business Model, which will help to address the key barrier to deployment, the cost gap compared to fossil fuels. The Net Zero Hydrogen Fund will also provide up to £240 million to 2025 to support the development and construction of new low carbon hydrogen production plants.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help ensure that (a) Whitetail Clean Energy and (b) other energy projects can be deployed at full commercial scale.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government took a significant step forward in the Cluster Sequencing process by announcing in August a shortlist of projects that represented a range of innovative CCUS technologies to progress to the due diligence stage for Track-1. CCUS-enabled clusters will be the starting point for a new carbon capture industry, which could support up to 50,000 jobs in the UK in 2030.
Officials are speaking to representatives from shortlisted projects, including Whitetail Clean Energy, to ensure they remain on track to support the delivery of 20-30Mt per annum of CO2 capture and storage by 2030, [subject to the results of due diligence and negotiations].
The Government is also accelerating many other key energy projects, as outlined in the British Energy Security Strategy.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help progress (a) Whitetail Clean Energy and (b) other energy projects that would help retain (i) supply chains and (ii) decarbonisation technologies within the UK.
Answered by Graham Stuart
CCUS-enabled clusters will be the starting point for a new carbon capture industry, which could support up to 50,000 jobs in the UK in 2030. The Government took a significant step forward in the Cluster Sequencing process by announcing, in August, a shortlist of projects that represented a range of innovative CCUS technologies to progress to the due diligence stage for Track-1.
BEIS policy officials are engaging shortlisted projects to ensure they remain on track to support the delivery of 20-30Mt per annum of CO2 capture and storage by 2030.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had recent discussions with the North Sea Transition Authority on local content in decommissioning projects in the offshore oil and gas industry.
Answered by Graham Stuart
No recent discussions have been held with the North Sea Transition Authority on local content in decommissioning projects in the offshore oil and gas industry.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress he has made on the development of the Offshore Energy Passport as set out in the Offshore Wind Sector Deal in March 2019.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Offshore Wind Industry Council committed to explore qualification passporting between different offshore sectors, as part of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal.
In March 2022, a significant agreement was reached between the three organisations that oversee training and qualifications for the offshore wind sector – the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation, the Global Wind Organisation and the International Contractors Association - to align training standards enabling workforce mobility.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to assess levels of commercial pressure on contractors employed in the production of offshore oil and gas on the UK Continental Shelf.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department does not currently assess levels of commercial pressure on contractors on the UK Continental Shelf.
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) works with industry, governments and trade associations to facilitate and promote effective collaboration with the supply chain to meet the voluntary commitments outlined in the North Sea Transition Deal, and develop a globally competitive, capable and innovative supply chain. These objectives are driven through the NSTA Stewardship Expectation 12, Supply Chain Action Plans (SCAPs), Energy Pathfinder, and formal supply chain stewardship reviews with operators. See weblink for more:
https://www.nstauthority.co.uk/supply-chain/overview/.