Battery Energy Storage Sites: Safety Regulations

Debate between James Naish and Miatta Fahnbulleh

Thursday 5th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Miatta Fahnbulleh)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Horsham (John Milne) on securing this debate and on his thoughtful and informed speech. I thank all Members for raising this incredibly important issue. Let me reassure them and this House that the Government appreciate all the concerns that have been raised. There is no complacency, and we are taking a responsible approach to the deployment of grid-scale batteries, which are an essential part of delivering clean energy.

We are very clear that increasing the amount of clean, renewable electricity generated, stored and used in the UK will improve our energy security. It will bring down bills for consumers in the long term by reducing our reliance on fossil fuel markets, which are volatile. It will create jobs, and it will tackle the climate and nature crisis, which we must do for future generations. We are committed to delivering clean power by 2030, and it was reassuring to hear support for that ambition from Members across the House, with the disappointing exception of the hon. Member for West Suffolk (Nick Timothy), who has adopted a pretty impressive skill of rewriting history and forgetting his own Government’s shoddy legacy on this.

In the clean power action plan, the Government outlined that 23 GW to 27 GW of grid-scale battery storage could be required by 2030. I understand that many Members here today are concerned that this comes at the expense of health and safety, but let me reassure them that that is absolutely not the case. I acknowledge that there have been a number of incidents at battery sites, in 2025 in particular, and this has raised legitimate concerns. We hear those concerns and understand them, and Members are right to raise them with Government. However, it is incredibly important for me to stress—and reiterate a point that has been made by other Members—that the risks associated with grid-scale batteries are relatively small and well understood, that there are robust measures in place for managing those risks, and that Government are already taking further steps to address some of the issues that have been raised.

[James Naish]

The Minister knows that I am as passionate about clean, green energy as she is and that flexibility will be key to ensuring cheaper bills for customers, but that is why it is vital that we give the public confidence in systems like BESS. Will she reassure me that the Government recognise that we must give the public confidence, so that we can ramp up the energy infrastructure needed to achieve the targets she has outlined?

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

I will absolutely reassure my hon. Friend. We understand that we must maintain public confidence and that we need a robust framework in place.

Geothermal Energy

Debate between James Naish and Miatta Fahnbulleh

Thursday 6th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

We want to think about creative ways in which we can unlock the potential for investment, so I am very keen to meet the hon. Member and members of the APPG so we can hear those proposals. I give him that reassurance.

Not just today but over recent years, the hon. Member has made a convincing case for the merits of pursuing deep geothermal. The Government remain committed to exploring the renewable energy opportunities afforded by our geography and geology. However, I hope the hon. Member will understand that the priority now�and the thing my boss has tasked me with�is developing the warm homes plan. It would be premature for the Government to set a geothermal strategy with detailed targets in advance of that plan. For us, it is a question of sequencing; for instance, if we are to make the most of geothermal�s potential, we need to start by creating an environment that enables the growth of heat networks and, crucially, protects consumers along the way.

To that end, the Department will bring forward a market regulatory framework in January 2026 to improve consumer protection. We are also consulting on heat network zoning, which is an essential part of our plan to establish and accelerate heat networks. We think that will significantly increase private sector investment and remove some of the barriers. We are committed to taking a long-term, strategic view, and we are trying to sequence this work so that we develop the warm homes plan and build the enabling environment. However, I absolutely recognise the need for us to set a policy framework in which geothermal energy can thrive.

[James Naish]

The Minister knows that I really admire the work she is doing in this space, and my intervention is more of a query than anything else. She has mentioned the warm homes plan; is a sense emerging of how many of the 5 million properties we are targeting through that plan might be fed by district heating and associated technologies? Is there a crystallisation of what that construct might be, to get us to the 5 million homes that we are targeting?

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

We know that there is a big opportunity for district heating, particularly in some of our urban centres. In the work that we are trying to do through the warm homes plan, we are thinking about where those opportunities are and making sure that we work with regional and local government to do some of the planning and the identification of those opportunities. That means that we can take a strategic approach, area by area and place by place.