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Written Question
Space Technology: Buckinghamshire
Friday 26th February 2021

Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to support innovation in small satellite propulsion technologies in the context of the announcement of the UK Space Agency’s planned National Propulsion Test Facility at Westcott.

Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Government has invested £4.12m in the National Space Propulsion Test Facility to support innovation in small satellite propulsion technologies; building on significant existing facilities and expertise at Westcott, Buckinghamshire. This facility will enable leading edge research and promote the development of an innovation community across the UK around space propulsion that stimulates R&D, facilitates the transfer of ideas between the research community and industry, and develops a pool of skilled people appropriate to the future needs of the industry and the sector. The facility can then enable UK Space companies to maintain and grow their competitive edge internationally through a world-leading facility that is attractive to foreign direct investment and one that will also allow universities to take on cutting-edge propulsion research topics. This environment will promote effective work between the research community and the commercial sector which will accelerate: innovation, knowledge exchange and commercial exploitation of propulsion and engineering research. These steps to support innovation will also help develop sovereign small satellite launch capability and the participation in international launcher R&D programmes.


Written Question
Space Technology: Buckinghamshire
Friday 26th February 2021

Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential (a) merits and (b) commercial opportunities arising from the proposal to develop a new Disruptive Innovation in Space Centre at Westcott.

Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Government believes that the Space Sector offers opportunities to drive economic growth across the country.

In order to better understand the pipeline of space research, development & innovation infrastructure proposals, which could be funded through a number of routes, the UK Space Agency has initiated a space infrastructure road mapping exercise and has been in touch with Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership to seek further details of this proposal for a Disruptive Innovation in Space Centre.


Written Question
Space Technology
Friday 26th February 2021

Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support the Government is providing to Local Enterprise Partnerships in order to stimulate industry growth in the space sector.

Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

We wish to see growth of our world class space sector benefitting the whole of the UK. The UK Space Agency, working with partners including the Satellite Applications Catapult, is currently supporting three Centres of Excellence in Satellite Applications (in the North East, South West and the South Coast of England). In November 2020 we announced £0.5m funding to support the development of new space hubs, bringing together local partners, expertise and businesses to create strategies for how their area can take maximum advantage of the commercial space race and align the space sector within their local industrial strategies.

We have also provided Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership with £7.7m from the Getting Building Fund, of which I understand they intend to invest £2m into the initial phase of their Westcott Disruptive Innovation Space Centre. In addition, specific work is currently being funded by the UK Space Agency to bring together the significant space interests across the Oxford to Cambridge Arc – including the exciting developments at Westcott - and to put together an action plan for the development of the Arc Space Sector.


Written Question
Satellites: Innovation
Friday 26th February 2021

Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)

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 promote innovation within the small satellite manufacturing sector; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

Through the UK Space Agency, the Government continues to invest in supporting research & development. Increasingly, this is aimed at fostering innovation in the manufacture of small satellites and associated ground systems to support this growing market. Initiatives are underway to support Earth observation, satellite telecommunications, exploration and science, ranging from providing low cost access to space to enable a wider range of small and medium enterprises and academia to use space, to setting up a commercial lunar data relay service using small satellites.

The UK Space Agency has also supported UK small satellite manufacturers and their UK supply chains to industrialise production of their satellites to meet an increase in demand and exploit emerging technologies.


Written Question
Hydrogen: Investment
Friday 17th July 2020

Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)

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 is taking to support private investment in the UK's hydrogen sector.

Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng

It is clear, there is growing interest in the Hydrogen sector and we are in regular discussions with businesses about their investment plans for hydrogen projects. The Government is currently investing up to £121 million in hydrogen innovation, supporting a range of projects exploring the potential of low carbon hydrogen across the value chain. Alongside our innovation activity, we are developing sustainable business models to support hydrogen production and will be engaging with Industry on the £100m Low Carbon Hydrogen Fund later this year. We are undertaking extensive stakeholder engagement as we develop new policy to help bring forward the technologies and supply chains, we will need to grow the UK hydrogen economy. As part of this we are looking to formalise regular engagement between Government and industry to discuss and drive development of the UK hydrogen economy. This will consider how we can best work together to encourage increased private sector investment in hydrogen projects, growing the hydrogen supply chain and providing clean growth and new jobs across the UK.


Written Question
Hydrogen: Renewable Energy
Friday 17th July 2020

Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)

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 support the development of green hydrogen production facilities.

Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng

The Government is committed to exploring the option of hydrogen as a strategic decarbonised energy carrier. In line with this we are currently investing up to £121 million in hydrogen innovation, supporting a range of projects exploring the production and potential of low carbon hydrogen across the value chain. We support green hydrogen production facilities both through innovation funding and other grants. An example is our support for the industrialisation of production processes at the new ITM Power Gigafactory being built in Sheffield which when complete will be the largest electrolyser manufacturing facility in the world.


Written Question
Hydrogen: Renewable Energy
Friday 17th July 2020

Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to set a target for the production of green hydrogen by (a) 2025, (b) 2030 and (c) 2050.

Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng

We recognise the important role that targets, alongside long-term policy frameworks have often played in the development of low carbon technology in the UK. We are currently developing our strategic approach to hydrogen and its potential to deliver against our net zero goals. We will set out our plans in due course. We are undertaking extensive stakeholder engagement as we develop new policy to help bring forward the technologies and supply chains, we will need to grow the UK hydrogen economy, including green hydrogen. As part of this we are looking to formalise regular engagement between Government and industry to discuss and drive development of the UK hydrogen economy. We have not set any targets, although we support green hydrogen production facilities both through innovation funding and other grants. An example is our support for the industrialisation of production processes at the new ITM Power Gigafactory being built in Sheffield which when complete will be the largest electrolyser manufacturing facility in the world.


Written Question
Hydrogen: Climate Change Convention
Friday 17th July 2020

Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to promote the UK's hydrogen sector at COP26.

Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng

COP26 will provide an opportunity to demonstrate a range of UK innovations and developments, including potential use of hydrogen as a contributor to achieving our net-zero ambition. We are exploring how this might be achieved, including demonstration of hydrogen appliances developed under the Hy4Heat programme, as part of the BEIS Energy Innovation Portfolio. The UK is well placed to enhance international cooperation to accelerate clean energy innovation, including hydrogen technologies.


Written Question
Hydrogen
Friday 17th July 2020

Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)

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 is taking to produce a UK-wide hydrogen strategy.

Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng

The Government is committed to the development of hydrogen as a strategic decarbonised energy carrier for the UK. We are currently developing our strategic approach to hydrogen and its potential to deliver against our net zero goals. We will set out our plans in due course.

In order to inform our approach, we are undertaking extensive stakeholder engagement as we develop new policy to help bring forward the technologies and supply chains, we will need to grow the UK hydrogen economy. This includes business models to support the deployment of, and investment in, low carbon hydrogen production and a £100m Low Carbon Hydrogen Production Fund to stimulate capital investment. We will be further engaging with industry on both schemes throughout the year.


Written Question
Hydrogen
Friday 17th July 2020

Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the hydrogen strategies being published by (a) Germany, (b) Denmark and (c) the European Commission.

Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng

The Government is committed to the development of hydrogen as a strategic decarbonised energy carrier. We are closely monitoring international hydrogen developments and participate in a range of international fora, including the International Partnership for Hydrogen for Fuel Cells in the Economy, Mission Innovation and Clean Energy Ministerial. These forums offer opportunities to discuss international activity on hydrogen, including strategies put forward by Germany, Denmark, and the European Commission. This contributes to understanding of, for example, respective drivers for interest, levels of ambition, innovation priorities and policy support frameworks. This is informing our own strategic approach to the development of hydrogen in the UK context, including opportunities for partnership and economic benefit.