Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of potential future trends in the level of demand for oil and gas.
Answered by Graham Stuart
As set out in our Net Zero Strategy demand pathway, in 2035, demand for oil and gas may be just over half of 2022 levels.
Whilst our domestic production is expected to decline by 7% year-on-year, new licensing will limit our import dependency to around 60% instead of 70% by 2035.
By 2050, oil use will concentrate in aviation. Gas will be used with CCUS abatement, generating cleaner electricity and hydrogen.
Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to encourage investment in the (a) offshore oil and gas industry and (b) renewables sector.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has been clear in its support for the upstream oil and gas sector. The recent announcement of the first 27 licences from the 33rd Offshore Oil and Gas Licensing Round and our new Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, requiring annual licensing, support this.
Since 2010, the UK has seen £198 billion of investment into low carbon energy. The Government recently announced that its flagship scheme for supporting renewable electricity projects, the Contracts for Differences scheme, would see significant uplifts to the maximum price for offshore wind projects and other renewables in next year's auction.
Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to help attract investment in offshore wind manufacturing.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero works closely with the Department for Business and Trade and other relevant Government departments to attract investment in offshore wind manufacturing.
The UK remains an attractive market for offshore wind investment. SeAH Wind’s new monopile factory and JDR Cables’ subsea cable facility are expected to complete their construction and begin operations by the end of 2024.
The Department is also delivering the Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme (FLOWMIS), worth up to £160 million, to support investment in the port infrastructure needed to deploy large-scale floating offshore wind turbines.
Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the Climate Change Committee's recommendations on (a) methane capture and (b) oxidation rates at landfill sites in its Sixth Carbon Budget Waste Report, published 4 December 2020; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Graham Stuart
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of retiring the Renewables Obligation Certificate scheme for landfill gas to energy generation sites by 2027 on methane emissions; and what steps her Department plans to take to increase methane capture rates at landfill sites.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government does not intend to extend the Renewables Obligation scheme beyond the end dates for support in 2027 and 2037, depending on when the generating station was accredited. However, finding efficient ways to re-use existing stations that otherwise might decommission could be important for reducing methane emissions, as recognised in the Biomass Strategy. The Government is exploring the most appropriate revenue support mechanism for repowering existing stations across all technology types where this delivers value to the consumer.
Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will extend the Renewables Obligation Certificate scheme beyond 2027 for existing landfill gas to energy generation sites.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government does not intend to extend the Renewables Obligation scheme beyond the end dates for support in 2027 and 2037, depending on when the generating station was accredited. However, finding efficient ways to re-use existing stations that otherwise might decommission could be important for reducing methane emissions, as recognised in the Biomass Strategy. The Government is exploring the most appropriate revenue support mechanism for repowering existing stations across all technology types where this delivers value to the consumer.
Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of retiring the Renewables Obligation Certificate scheme for landfill gas to energy generation sites by 2027 on the UK's energy security.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government does not intend to extend the Renewables Obligation scheme beyond the end dates for support in 2027 and 2037, depending on when the generating station was accredited. However, finding efficient ways to re-use existing stations that otherwise might decommission could be important for reducing methane emissions, as recognised in the Biomass Strategy. The Government is exploring the most appropriate revenue support mechanism for repowering existing stations across all technology types where this delivers value to the consumer.
Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she plans to introduce revenue support mechanisms for existing landfill gas to energy generation sites beyond 2027.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government does not intend to extend the Renewables Obligation scheme beyond the end dates for support in 2027 and 2037, depending on when the generating station was accredited. However, finding efficient ways to re-use existing stations that otherwise might decommission could be important for reducing methane emissions, as recognised in the Biomass Strategy. The Government is exploring the most appropriate revenue support mechanism for repowering existing stations across all technology types where this delivers value to the consumer.
Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to reach 7-9 GW of Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage power by 2030.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Power generation with Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) will be crucial to provide the flexible low carbon power generation required to decarbonise securely the power sector by 2035.
In March, the Government entered negotiations to deliver the UK’s first power CCUS project through the CCUS Cluster Sequencing Process, with the aim of reaching Final Investment Decisions in 2024.
This is not the extent of the Government's ambition: in March, the Department announced that it will launch a process this year to enable further expansion of the Track-1 CCUS clusters, and in July, it commenced engagement and due diligence with future CO2 storage sites to deliver two additional clusters by 2030 through Track-2.
This will enable further power CCUS deployment, alongside other CCUS-enabled technologies, and put the UK on the pathway to meeting its power sector decarbonisation ambitions, which Government analysis suggest could require as much as 10GW of power CCUS by 2035.
Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent steps her Department has taken to increase the rate of installation of (a) carbon capture and storage, (b) hydrogen and (c) other (i) low-carbon and (ii) flexible backup electricity power technologies.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The £20 billion announced in the Budget sets up the UK to deliver four Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) clusters by 2030. The Government will publish a vision for the CCUS sector in 2023. The Government's ambition is for up to 2GW of low-carbon hydrogen capacity to be in operation or construction by 2025. Government aims to complete the first Hydrogen Allocation Round by the end of 2023.
The Government is working with Ofgem and industry to implement the actions of the Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan to achieve a more flexible energy system.