Gas-fired Power Stations
Debate between James Wild and Graham Stuart(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
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Graham Stuart
The hon. Gentleman, who is supposed to lead on this subject for his party, should have listened to what I said earlier. In 2022, 38% of generation came from gas. By the mid-2030s, it will be 1% or 2%. Why are we having it? To balance the renewables we are growing, particularly in Scotland, and support Scottish jobs. Of course if we put generation in Scotland when the demand is in the south, we have to provide connecting infrastructure. Previous generations had to wire up the UK to become the rich and prosperous country we are today. We need to do it again now. We are working with local communities, listening to their voices and making sure they are not misled by people who come up with such nonsense as the hon. Gentleman just did.
James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)
I commend my right hon. Friend for his refreshingly clear articulation of our strong record in this area, both in the House today and in the media yesterday. Obviously, security of supply must come first. How will the plans incentivise investment in back-up gas-fired power stations, while minimising costs to consumers, which is also very important?
Graham Stuart
I thank my hon. Friend. He and my right hon. Friend the Member for North East Somerset (Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg) are absolutely right to focus on the economics. We have to get the economics right. We have used an auction-type mechanism in the capacity market to ensure flexible capacity. We are incentivising more and more of that to be low carbon, with batteries coming in at scale, as well as pumps and potentially hydrostorage. We also need hydrogen and carbon capture. We are ensuring a balanced system with discipline built into it to drive costs down. When CBAMs and so on come on stream, I firmly expect that in the 2030s we will have lower-cost energy than our neighbours and we will, as my right hon. Friend the Member for North East Somerset referred to, be more economically competitive.
Electric Vehicle Battery Production
Debate between James Wild and Graham Stuart(1 year, 3 months ago)
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Graham Stuart
The hon. Gentleman is right to highlight the importance of charging infrastructure. We need to do more and we need to do it faster. We are absolutely focused on delivering that.
James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)
My right hon. Friend rightly protected taxpayers’ money as milestones were not met, but will he confirm to potential investors that the £100 million is still on the table for firms that can get the private sector investment and the orders that Britishvolt was sadly unable to?
Graham Stuart
In the net zero strategy it was announced that there would be £350 million of funding for the automotive transformation fund, in addition to the £500 million announced as part of the 10-point plan.