Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
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 provide additional support to those disabled people who are disproportionally affected by higher energy prices due to a requirement for high energy usage due to their health conditions.
Answered by Graham Stuart
To support the public with their energy bills, the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) is delivering a £400 non-repayable government grant. The Energy Price Guarantee will save a typical household in Great Britain £900 this Winter. People with disabilities are also entitled to one-off £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment. The Government is currently reviewing the Energy Price Guarantee. This consultation will explore the best ways to ensure that vulnerable high energy users, such as those with medical requirements, are not put at risk.
Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has plans to implement the Contracts for Difference auction and allocation on an annual basis.
Answered by Greg Hands
On 9 February 2022, the Secretary of State announced that Contracts for Difference allocation rounds will be held on an annual basis from March 2023, when the next round (AR5) will open to applications.[1]
[1] https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2022-02-09/hcws600
Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
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 make an assessment of the adequacy of the £20 million of ring-fenced funding for tidal marine energy as part of the Contracts for Difference Scheme; and if the Government will provide increased ring-fenced funding should that assessment find those funds to be insufficient.
Answered by Greg Hands
The next Contracts for Difference round will be the biggest yet, affirming this Government’s commitment to fully decarbonise the electricity system by 2035. The £20m ringfenced support for Tidal Stream is sufficient to kick-start innovation across the UK and balances our objectives of decarbonisation, fairness and value for electricity billpayers.
Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
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 announcement to include £20 million of ring-fenced in the fourth allocation round of the Contracts for Difference Scheme, what target is in place for electricity gigawatt output generated through tidal marine energy.
Answered by Greg Hands
The £20 million ring-fence of UK government funding for Tidal Stream was announced on 24th November. The Government has no specific target for gigawatts of capacity from tidal sources.
Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
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 Royal Society's report, entitled A review of the UK and British Channel Islands practical tidal stream energy resource, published in November 2021, what assessment he has made of the feasibility of reaching 11.5 gigawatts of electricity output for tidal marine energy.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government has made targeted support available for tidal stream energy projects in Great Britain through allocation round 4 of the Contracts for Difference scheme. Promising technologies in the early commercial stage of development must prove their viability and scalability by driving down prices before the Government takes a view on whether the levels of deployed capacity are feasible.