David T C Davies

As part of our pre-consultation engagement in the run up to publishing the Gender Recognition Act Consultation, the Government Equalities Office met over 70 organisations and stakeholders. These included LGBT organisations, women’s groups, faith organisations, refuges and domestic violence campaign groups, local government, campaign organisations such as Woman’s Place UK, unions, transgender charities, government departments and other European governments. Gendered Intelligence were one of these groups.

The Government Equalities Office is physically based in the Department for Education building in Westminster. Hard copy responses to the consultation must therefore be addressed to the Government Equalities Office in the Department for Education.

As part of our pre-consultation engagement in the run up to publishing the Gender Recognition Act Consultation, the Government Equalities Office met over 70 organisations and stakeholders. These included LGBT organisations, women’s groups, faith organisations, refuges and domestic violence campaign groups, local government, campaign organisations such as Woman’s Place UK, unions, transgender charities, government departments and other European governments. Gendered Intelligence were one of these groups.

The Government Equalities Office is physically based in the Department for Education building in Westminster. Hard copy responses to the consultation must therefore be addressed to the Government Equalities Office in the Department for Education.

Connections to the high voltage electricity transmission are a matter for National Grid, in its role as System Operator.

National Grid publishes information on current and future transmission capability, generation connections and development timescales in its annual Electricity Ten Year Statement and Customer Connection Interface Tool. These documents are available at:

http://www2.nationalgrid.com/UK/Industry-information/Future-of-Energy/Electricity-Ten-Year-Statement/

During the last five years, the Department has co-funded, with Defra, the Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme, which delivers scientific evidence on climate variability and change. The effect of carbon dioxide on temperature and climate change is one of the many research topics covered by the programme. More information can be found on the programme website: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/publicsector/climate-programme.

In addition, the Department has, since 2009, financially supported two separate phases of the AVOID Research Programme (2009-2013 and 2014-2016), both of which have involved rigorous examination of the effect of carbon dioxide on temperature and climate change. Reports summarising the analyses are available on the programme website: www.avoid.uk.net.

In 2014, under the Renewable Energy Directive measure, 7.0 per cent of the UK’s gross final energy consumption was derived from renewables.

Source: Table DUKES 6.7, Digest of UK Energy Statistics, 2015, available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/renewable-sources-of-energy-chapter-6-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes

The table below shows electricity supplied in the UK by fuel type for the calendar year 2014.

Renewables are made up of hydro (natural flow), wind and solar (which includes wave tidal) and bioenergy. This makes up 65.2 TWh (a 19.2% share) of total generation.

Source: Energy Trends, table 5.1. Available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-section-5-energy-trends.

The table below shows electricity supplied in the UK by fuel type for the calendar year 2014.

Renewables are made up of hydro (natural flow), wind and solar (which includes wave tidal) and bioenergy. This makes up 65.2 TWh (a 19.2% share) of total generation.

Source: Energy Trends, table 5.1. Available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-section-5-energy-trends.

Energy-intensive industries already participate in National Grid’s balancing services reducing their consumption at times of high demand. These contracts are on a voluntary, bilateral, and commercial basis.

Government has committed to two years of ‘Transitional Arrangements’ before the full Capacity Market begins, aimed to support new demand side providers including these industries, to grow and prepare prior to the first year ahead auction in 2017.

One UK coal-fired power station, EON’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar, is expected to have the capability to meet the emissions levels set by the Industrial Emissions Directive when it comes into force on 1^st January 2016.

All UK coal fired power stations have elected to be part of the UK’s Transitional National Plan. This gives them until end June 2020 to make the upgrades needed to meet the emissions levels required under the Directive.

The impact of the Carbon Price Floor on consumer bills has been assessed in the following report, “Estimated impacts of energy and climate change policies on energy prices and bills, DECC, 2014”:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/384404/Prices__Bills_report_2014.pdf

The report includes figures for projected average electricity bills in 2014, 2020 and 2030. The cost of anticipated new generation capacity is reflected in these figures.

In September 2014 DECC published a set of updated energy and emission projections. [1] Annex M of that publication presents the Department’s projections of wholesale and retail prices for a range of users under varying assumptions of fossil fuel prices and economic growth.

Based on that publication, Table 1 below presents the wholesale electricity price projections for low, central and high fossil fuel scenarios. Table 2 below presents retail electricity price projections for households under low, central and high fossil fuel scenarios.

Projections for other users (industrial and service sectors) can also be found in Annex M at the link provided. Updated projections will be published in the autumn.

[1] DECC (2014) ‘Updated energy and emission projections 2014’: Available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-energy-and-emissions-projections-2014

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular meetings with Cabinet colleagues on a variety of topics.

Details of meetings between Ministers and external organisations are published quarterly on the Departmental website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-meeting-with-external-organisations.

The fuel type for UK nuclear electricity generation is Uranium.

Total simultaneous maximum load (total peak demand) met in 2013 was 51,811 MW in Great Britain – (Northern Ireland is excluded because their network is attached to the Irish Grid). [1]

Table 1 shows the current operating plants alongside their percentage of the total peak GB demand mentioned above. We do not have any mothballed UK-based nuclear generation.

Table 1 – Operating plants installed capacities (Sum total may not add up due to rounding)

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/337649/chapter_5.pdf

Large capital investment is planned for the GB electricity sector not only in the context of ageing plants, but upgrading network infrastructure, meeting decarbonisation objectives and maintaining security of supply. Between 2010 and 2013, we estimate over £45 billion private sector investment in electricity generation and networks. We have estimated further capital investment requirements to be up to £100bn between 2014 and 2020. We have not estimated the proportion of this investment that relates directly to replacing ageing plants.

For DECC’s most recent published estimates of the costs per MWh for a range of generation technologies, please refer to the levelised cost estimates published in the Electricity Generation Costs (December 2013) report which can be found at the link below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269888/131217_Electricity_Generation_costs_report_December_2013_Final.pdf.

The Department’s Updated Emissions and Energy Projections published in 2014 includes an estimate for the total amount of available coal-fired electricity generation capacity in Great Britain:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368021/Updated_energy_and_emissions_projections2014.pdf.

The relevant figures are:

*DECC EEP reference case (2014) – Unabated coal capacity based on a scenario of average carbon intensity of electricity generation of 100g CO₂/kWh in 2030

The position of individual plants is a matter for plant operators.

An 880 MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) is currently under construction at Carrington, Greater Manchester.

Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) has announced that it will close its Ferrybridge coal-fired power station by 31 March 2016.

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not made an estimate of the impact of removing the Carbon Price Floor (CPF) on capacity payments. Removing the CPF would result in a change in the relative economics of coal and gas generation and so may affect the level at which individual plant bid under the Capacity Market. It is not clear whether the net effect of this would result in a reduction in the overall cost of the Capacity Market as the level of capacity payments depends on which plant sets the clearing price.

A report by independent energy consultants Parsons Brinckerhoff commissioned by the Department considers the timescales to mothball and return gas plant to service:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technical-assessment-of-the-operation-of-coal-gas-fired-plants.

The report indicates a restoration period between 2 and 90 days dependent on a number of factors including the type of plant, the period for which it has been mothballed and whether a major overall is required before a plant is returned to service.

The Capacity Market is designed to ensure sufficient capacity is available to meet demand. The first auction held last year contracted a total of 47.3GW of capacity delivery year 2018/19 and a further auction for delivery year 2019/20 will be held later this year.

In the shorter term the Government has worked with National Grid and Ofgem to put in place an effective plan which allows National Grid to procure New Balancing Services. This worked well last winter. This plan has been robustly stress-tested to cope with the toughest system conditions, and is flexible enough to adapt to individual plant closures such as Ferrybridge and Longannet.

Under the CCS Commercialisation Programme, the Government is supporting the Peterhead and White Rose CCS projects to complete their detailed project designs. The companies involved are expected to make final investment decisions in late 2015, with Government taking a decision in the first quarter of 2016. Subject to final investment decisions, Government has made up to £1bn available to offset the capital cost of the projects and further support will be available through a tailored Contract for Difference.

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular meetings with Cabinet colleagues on a variety of topics.

Details of meetings between Ministers and external organisations are published quarterly on the Departmental website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-meeting-with-external-organisations.

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular meetings with Cabinet colleagues on a variety of topics.

Details of meetings between Ministers and external organisations are published quarterly on the Departmental website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-meeting-with-external-organisations.

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular meetings with Cabinet colleagues on a variety of topics.

Details of meetings between Ministers and external organisations are published quarterly on the Departmental website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-meeting-with-external-organisations.

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular meetings with Cabinet colleagues on a variety of topics.

Details of meetings between Ministers and external organisations are published quarterly on the Departmental website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-meeting-with-external-organisations.

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular meetings with Cabinet colleagues on a variety of topics.

Details of meetings between Ministers and external organisations are published quarterly on the Departmental website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-meeting-with-external-organisations.

Decisions on the closure of individual power stations are a matter for their owners and are likely to take account of a wide range of factors, including the age of the plant and its condition; cost of maintenance; cost of necessary upgrades (for example to comply with environmental legislation), the plant’s profitability and competitive position in the market; and the extent to which the owner needs the capacity to meet contractual commitments.

The Department models the operation of the electricity market including the construction and decommissioning of plants as part of the analytical basis for supporting its policy decisions. This is published as the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) and Energy and Emissions Projections (EEP) available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/digest-of-uk-energy-statistics-dukes and https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/energy-and-emissions-projections respectively.

This modelling includes aggregated figures for total generation capacity by technology type for future years but does not provide information about specific plants.

The decision on whether to extend the life of a nuclear power station is for the owners in conjunction with the regulators. The Regulators do not set prescribed lifetimes for UK nuclear power stations. The owners/operators of nuclear power plants make a commercial decision on whether to extend operation.

In order to gain approval from the Regulators, owners/operators must show that the plant will continue to be run in compliance with site licence conditions and that the continued operation of the nuclear power station is safe.

The table below details, for each operational nuclear power plant, the available operating capacity and details of life extensions.

[1] http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Country-Profiles/Countries-T-Z/United-Kingdom/

[2] http://www.edfenergy.com/energy.

With regards to wholesale electricity prices, DECC does not make internal assessments of wholesale prices in G7 countries, but we do review data from external publications (including the IEA Energy Prices Publication by the International Energy Agency). Wholesale electricity prices vary across countries because of differences in energy mix, i.e. the type of generation (coal, gas, nuclear, wind, etc) available in the country; differences the type of market and regulatory framework in place, and differences in interconnection, i.e the links to other countries.

With regards to domestic energy prices, DECC publishes the UK’s rank in the G7 for domestic electricity and gas prices in its quarterly publications on domestic electricity and gas prices in the IEA. For domestic electricity, including taxes, the UK ranked 4th highest in the G7 in 2013. For domestic gas, including taxes, the UK ranked 3rd lowest in the G7 in 2013. These ranks have not changed in the last 5 years.

The costs of the Carbon Price Floor on business are largely indirect, passed through in bills by their electricity supplier. However, the Department for Energy and Climate Change’s Prices and Bills report estimates that in 2014 the Carbon Price Floor increased the price per MWh of electricity for the average uncompensated energy intensive business by £4. The Government pays compensation to the most electricity intensive industries which reduces the price impact for the average compensated energy intensive business in 2014 to £2 per MWh.

My Department keeps the risk of carbon leakage under regular review.

The costs of the Carbon Price Floor on business are largely indirect, passed through in bills by their electricity supplier. However, the Department for Energy and Climate Change’s Prices and Bills report estimates that in 2014 the Carbon Price Floor increased the price per MWh of electricity for the average uncompensated energy intensive business by £4. The Government pays compensation to the most electricity intensive industries which reduces the price impact for the average compensated energy intensive business in 2014 to £2 per MWh.

My Department keeps the risk of carbon leakage under regular review.

The costs of the Carbon Price Floor on business are largely indirect, passed through in bills by their electricity supplier. However, the Department for Energy and Climate Change’s Prices and Bills report estimates that in 2014 the Carbon Price Floor increased the price per MWh of electricity for the average uncompensated energy intensive business by £4. The Government pays compensation to the most electricity intensive industries which reduces the price impact for the average compensated energy intensive business in 2014 to £2 per MWh.

My Department keeps the risk of carbon leakage under regular review.

The Government and the Committee on Climate Change takes very seriously the need to ensure that board members have no conflicts in fulfilling their public duties. When appointing to the board, the Government follows Cabinet Office guidance about making public appointments that sets out the rules and transparency requirements which must be satisfied before public appointments can be made.

The Chair and members of the Committee on Climate Change are recruited according to the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) procedures. In line with this, the selection must be fair and open. For example, appointments must be advertised publicly and each candidate must be assessed against the same published criteria.

The UK Government is bringing in sustainability criteria for those supplying biomass under the RO and RHI. These were initially introduced as reporting requirements from April 2014, with the intention of bringing in mandatory criteria from April 2015. No data has yebeen published.

In order to calculate the greenhouse gas saving of a fuel, suppliers are required to sum each of the emission components but are not required to report the component savings. It is the responsibility of generators to determine where in their supply chain the saving is made.

Power suppliers using bioliquids have had to comply with the Renewable Energy Directive’s sustainability criteria since 2011, which includes a 35% minimum greenhouse gas emissions saving. Ofgem reports on these emissions, the most recent figures are found in the Renewable Obligation annual report:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/86392/roannualreport2012-13final.pdf.

The main mechanism of support for biomass1 power generation is the Renewables Obligation (RO). An estimate of support can be made by applying the share of RO certificates (ROCs) redeemed by suppliers, originating from biomass generation, to overall RO expenditure. This is given in the table below for 2011/12 to 2013/14.

2013/14 data are provisional, Ofgem’s annual report will be published in February 2015.

RO expenditure published in Ofgem’s RO annual reports, available at:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/renewables-obligation-ro

ROCs redeemed by technology available at:

https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportManager.aspx?ReportVisibility=1&ReportCategory=0 (Compliance certificates report).

Domestic combustion of biomass in the UK is currently supported by the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), but was previously covered by the Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) until April 2014. The table below gives figures for the amount of subsidy biomass boilers received in the last 3 years:

[1] There is no single category for “biomass” under the RO. In this answer, we have defined biomass as the following generation types: Anaerobic Digestion, ACT, bioliquids, dedicated biomass, biomass conversions, EfW, landfill and sewage gas and CHP technologies.

DECC releases official statistics on a quarterly basis which give details of the number of smart meters installed quarter by quarter and the total number in operation by the larger energy suppliers at the end of the quarter.

Information about smart meter rollout statistics, up to 30^th June 2014, can be obtained from the Quarterly report published on 18 September:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistical-release-and-data-smart-meters-great-britain-quarter-2-2014.

The Government is not aware of any plans by the energy suppliers to introduce differential charging for consumers with traditional meters. Ofgem will be monitoring suppliers throughout the roll-out and will expect to engage with them should suppliers develop plans to introduce such charging for consumers with traditional meters. It will keep issues surrounding the fair treatment of these consumers under review.

DECC releases statistics on a quarterly basis which give details of the number of smart meter installations by the larger energy suppliers. The latest release, published on 18 September 2014, details installations up to the end of quarter two 2014, and can be found on the Gov.uk website on the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistical-release-and-data-smart-meters-great-britain-quarter-2-2014.

The Government is currently finalising the second version of the Smart Metering Equipment Technical Specifications (SMETS 2). As SMETS 2 is not yet in force, no installed smart meters currently meet it. We expect SMETS 2 smart meters to be available for the main installation stage.

The first version of the specifications (SMETS1) was designated by the Secretary of State on 18 December 2012 to allow suppliers to install and operate smart meters during the Foundation Stage of the Programme if they so wish, and thus facilitate early learning and benefits.

The total support costs associated with the Renewables Obligation (RO) since 2002 are set out in the table below.

The impact of these support costs on actual energy bills depends on the total level of electricity sales, how energy suppliers pass these costs through to consumers, and the amounts of electricity consumed by individual consumers.

Assuming that costs incurred by energy suppliers are passed on in full to all electricity consumers (including households and businesses), and on an equal £/MWh basis, analysis published in March 20131 suggests that, in 2013, the RO accounted, on average, for around 2% (or £30, in real 2012 prices) of an annual household energy (gas plus electricity) bill.

Under the Electricity Market Reform, the RO will be closed to new capacity from 1^st April 2017, and large scale renewable electricity will be supported through the new Contracts for Difference scheme.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/policy-impacts-on-prices-and-bills

The Renewables Obligation is currently the main financial mechanism by which the Government incentivises the deployment of large-scale renewable electricity generation in the UK. The table below gives figures for the amount of support biomass projects received in the last 3 years for which data is available. These are in nominal prices:

Support for small-scale (<5MW) renewables in Great Britain, including Anaerobic Digestion (AD), is also available under the Feed in Tariff (FIT) scheme. However, FIT spend data are not collected disaggregated by technology.

Biomass technologies include: AD, biomass co-firing, biomass conversions, dedicated biomass, sewage gas, landfill gas and advanced conversion technologies. These include Combined Heat and Power (CHP) schemes.

Total spend under the RO is calculated as the number of Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) redeemed by suppliers for that RO year multiplied by the value of a ROC in that year. ROCs redeemed data can be found at: https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportManager.aspx?ReportVisibility=1&ReportCategory=0 (see ‘Compliance Certificates Reports’). The ROC value is calculated by the overall RO spend for that year divided by the total number of ROCs redeemed by suppliers. Overall RO spend is calculated by multiplying the obligation by the buy-out price, both of which can be found in each year’s RO annual report or obligation notice, available at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/renewables-obligation-ro

Domestic combustion of biomass in the UK is currently supported by the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), but was previously covered by the Renewable Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) until April 2014. The table below gives figures for the amount of subsidy biomass boilers received in the last 3 years:

DECC’s Biomass Emissions And Counterfactual1 model has been developed to estimate overall greenhouse gas emissions associated with the delivered bioenergy to the UK from a number of regions for power generation, based on a scenario based life-cycle assessment technique. The overall estimates include carbon dioxide emitted by the production processes including drying and the transportation of biomass; details for selected scenarios are available in the report titled “Life Cycle Impacts of Biomass Electricity"2 published in July 2014.

The UK is introducing new sustainability standards for biomass. From April 2015, biomass heat and power generators must achieve a minimum of 68% greenhouse gas saving compared to coal, which includes emissions from processing and transportation. In addition, power stations over 50MWth must monitor and report against maximum monthly average emission limits for particulates (including ash) they emit to air.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/332948/beac_1.xlsm

2 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/349024/BEAC_Report_290814.pdf

The 2013, peer-reviewed paper Quantifying the Consensus on Anthropogenic Global Warming in the Scientific Literature analysed the abstracts of around 12,000 scientific papers and found that, of the third which expressed a view on the cause of global warming, 97% considered it to be man-made. We are not aware of any evidence of fraud relating to this paper.

The main conclusion of the paper is consistent with findings from all other such studies, and as is evident from the recent Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, that there is an overwhelming scientific consensus that recent global warming is largely caused by human activity.