Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
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 publish a response to the report published by the Parliamentary Advisory Group on Carbon Capture and Storage prior to the publication of the Government's emissions reduction plan.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government is considering the findings and recommendations made in the report ‘Lowest Cost Decarbonisation for the UK: the critical role of carbon capture and storage’, published by Parliamentary Advisory Group on Carbon Capture and Storage, and will set out its approach to carbon capture and storage in due course.
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2016 to Question 57518, what the strike price comparator is for Hinkley Point C.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Strike Price comparator for Hinkley Point C is the HPC Strike Price; this is £92.50/MWh (2012 prices), which is reduced to £89.50/MWh (2012 prices) if a final investment decision on Sizewell C is reached.
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2016 to Question 57518, if his Department will publish the methodology used to calculate strike price comparators for renewable energy technologies.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The various costs associated with electricity generation that make up each Strike Price comparator are set out in the BEIS Electricity Generation Cost report published November 2016.
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the recommendation of the Competition and Markets Authority in its Energy Market Investigation report, published on 8 July 2016, that the Government should undertake and consult on a clear and thorough assessment of the appropriate allocation of technologies and CfD budgets between pots, what estimate he has made of the implications of that recommendation for his policy on holding an allocation round for pot two technologies without allocating a budget for pot one technologies.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government is carefully considering the recommendations of the Competition and Markets Authority.
Running competitive allocation processes to drive down the costs of decarbonisation is a key part of delivering the best deal to consumers; the first competitive allocation round secured savings of about 20% against the administrative strike prices. We will set out our plans for Pot 1 in due course.
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he took to fulfil his obligation to consult Scottish Ministers, under section 61 of the Scotland Act 2016, on the contents of the Contracts for Difference press announcements made on 9 November 2016.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has certain obligations under section 61 of the Scotland Act 2016 to consult Scottish Ministers, as well as a statutory duty to consult Scottish Ministers before making regulatory changes under section 24 of the Energy Act 2013.
However, the announcements made on 9 November did not fall within the scope of the obligation as they related to matters falling within stated exceptions to that obligation, or are subject to consultation now with Scottish Ministers. On 9 November 2016 the Department published further details of the strike prices for the second Contracts for Difference (CFD) Allocation Round:
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2016 to Question 55315, what assessment he has made of the total cost of the smart meter roll out in the event that the deadline for that roll out is extended from 2020 to 2021.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government is committed to ensuring all consumers are offered smart meters by the end of 2020.
The Government has not assessed the impact of extending the deadline for rollout to 2021.
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what meetings he has had with the independent electricity producers since his appointment.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
All Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly on the gov.uk website here:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/decc-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-meetings-and-travel.
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
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 oil and gas industry since the Autumn Statement 2016.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has engaged with Oil and Gas UK, the trade association for the offshore oil and gas industry, and BEIS officials and the Oil and Gas Authority continue to work closely with the industry.
Asked by: Callum McCaig (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2016 to Question 50624, what the reason is for the discrepancy between figures given for the cost of onshore wind in the 2020s in his Department's Hinkley Point C Value for Money Assessment, published on 29 September 2016, with a cost of £49-90/MWh and Electricity Generation Costs report, published on 9 November 2016, with costs of £47-76/MWh in 2020 and £46-74/MWh in 2025.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Electricity Generation Cost report outlines the ‘levelised cost’ of onshore wind. The levelised cost is a guide to the overall costs for the lifetime of an onshore wind project; by contrast, the cost estimates in the Hinkley Point C value for money assessment are ‘Strike Price Comparators’ which are not equivalent to levelised cost.
In the value for money assessment, to make the levelised cost more comparable to the HPC Strike Price under the CfD contract, several adjustments were made: these included accounting for the lost generation from the transmission system, the cost of land and the relative difference in system balancing costs of onshore wind compared to nuclear. In addition, the running hours of onshore wind have been taken from a specific scenario where onshore wind was pursued in the absence of the HPC project.