Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will ask her Canadian counterpart for (a) emissions data and (b) the cost of the boundary dam power station in Saskatchewan, Canada; and if she will place that information in the Library.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
DECC officials are in regular contact with their counterparts in other Governments, including Canada, to exchange information on carbon capture and storage. Canadian counterparts will attend the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum in June which the UK is hosting. The exchanges include the progress of projects; however some of the specific information on the projects (such as Boundary Dam) is commercially sensitive and would not be disclosed. For the same reason we do not expect to publish any information in the House library.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, reference to her speech of 18 November 2015, if she will take evidence from the CoalImP and the World Coal Association in her Department's forthcoming review of coal; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced in her speech that the department will be launching a consultation on proposals to close unabated coal generation by 2025. Coallmp, the World Coal Association and any other interested parties are encouraged to engage and respond.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of which fuel source is the most efficient for national electricity grid re-starts following power cuts; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
DECC officials routinely work with National Grid to assess the resilience of response processes, including the failure of the National Electricity Transmission System.
This work includes assessment of how different fuel sources can deliver this ‘Black Start’ capability.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what information her Department holds on the number of ultra-super critical coal-fired power stations in other countries that are (a) generating electricity and (b) under construction.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Department does not hold this information.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2016 to Question 29325, how much of the 0.6GW diesel generating capacity is (a) privately owned and (b) owned by the Government; and which companies are involved in providing that capacity.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
I am not aware of any HM Government Departments or agencies which provide Short Term Operating Reserve (STOR) services to National Grid. Short Term Operating Reserve is procured by National Grid, and is subject to commercial confidentiality. DECC does not hold figures on contracts entered into by other Government departments or agencies.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will ask her German counterpart to supply the Government with emissions data from new ultra super-critical coal-fired power stations in that country; and if she will place that data in the Library.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
I have no plans to ask for emissions data from new ultra super-critical coal-fired power stations in Germany.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department has commissioned research on the potential effect on the purchase of energy through the interconnectors in the event of a majority leave vote in the EU referendum.
Answered by Amber Rudd
At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government's position, as set out by the Prime Minister to the House on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.
We currently expect our electricity interconnector capacity with the EU to double by the early 2020s with studies showing they could deliver benefits to British consumers of almost £12 billion over 25 years. As the White Paper that the Government recently published on the process for withdrawing from the European Union makes clear, a vote to leave the EU would lead to a prolonged period of uncertainty, including on the nature of our access to the EU's single energy market.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will commission independent research on the (a) economic, (b) environmental and (c) technical viability of building ultra-supercritical coal fired power stations in the UK.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
Coal is the most carbon intensive form of electricity generation. I have no plans to commission independent research on the viability of building ultra-supercritical coal fired power stations in the UK.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will place a summary of how the UK's energy interconnectors are funded in the Library.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
Yes, I will be placing a copy in the Libraries of the House.
Asked by: David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make an assessment of the potential effect of absorbing the EU emissions trading system tax on fossil fuels into the UK's carbon price support tax for fossil fuels.
Answered by Amber Rudd
At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government's position, as set out by the Prime Minister to the House on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.
The UK supports the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) as the best means of achieving the EU’s emissions reduction targets to 2030 and beyond at least cost for business and consumers, through a market-based approach. Emissions trading works better at the European level, creating a larger and more liquid market and a level playing field between Member States. The UK has been a consistent champion of the EU ETS and first piloted a national cap-and-trade scheme in 2002 before its launch. The UK has been at the forefront in securing recent measures to reform and strengthen the EU ETS, including securing EU agreement in September 2014 to a Market Stability Reserve to address the surplus of allowances in the system.