Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
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 ensure that potential delays to the construction of new nuclear power stations do not undermine the UK’s ability to meet the requirements of the fifth carbon budget.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Clean Growth Strategy sets out an indicative pathway to 2032 for meeting the fifth carbon budget through domestic action. This is one of a number of possible pathways. The route we ultimately take to meeting our targets will depend on a range of factors, in particular ensuring we are mindful of any impact on energy costs for households and businesses, and changes in costs as a result of innovation.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2017 to Question 3330, on natural gas: storage, if he will suspend fracking for as long as the UK continues to have secure gas supplies.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Shale gas could have great potential to be a domestic energy resource that makes us less reliant on imports and opens up a wealth of job opportunities. The economic impact of shale, both locally and nationally will depend on whether shale development is technically and commercially viable and on the level of production. To determine the potential of the industry and how development will proceed, we need exploration to go ahead.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
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 improve the storage capacity of the gas grid.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
There has been significant investment in the UK’s natural gas supply infrastructure over the last decade. As a result we benefit from highly diverse and flexible sources of natural gas. These include indigenous production from the North Sea; six international gas pipelines with Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands; three Liquefied Natural Gas terminals that can bring gas from anywhere in the world; and a number of modern, responsive gas storage facilities. We are confident that market-led investment will continue to deliver secure gas supplies.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
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 reduce the cost of gas energy to customers.
Answered by Margot James
Great Britain has one of the largest and most competitive wholesale gas hubs in the world and British retail gas prices are amongst the lowest in Europe. We benefit from highly diverse and flexible sources of gas supply, including storage, indigenous production, six international gas pipelines with Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands and three liquefied natural gas terminals.
In addition, increased competition in the retail gas market means that households now having a choice of around 55 companies supplying gas. Smaller suppliers are continuing to grow their market share and now have just over 18% of the domestic retail gas market. Nevertheless the Government considers that domestic standard variable tariff customers are being charged unjustifiably high prices – as confirmed by the Competition and Markets Authority investigation into the energy market.
In addition Ofgem has said it will consider extending the price cap in place for customers on pre-payment meters to more vulnerable customers.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
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 effect on the supply of energy of Centrica's decision to close its Rough field storage facility.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Centrica Storage Ltd’s decision to close the Rough gas storage facility is a commercial decision based on the age of the asset and the costs of repair.
We have recently undertaken a full strategic assessment of our long-term gas security, including scenarios without Rough. We will publish this in due course. The UK continues to be benefit from a range of flexible sources of natural gas, including: production from the North Sea; six international gas pipelines with Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands; three Liquefied Natural Gas terminals that can bring gas from anywhere in the world; and a number of modern, responsive gas storage facilities.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what security assessments his Department has made since the acquisition of a majority stake in the National Grid by the consortium comprising the Qatar Investment Authority and others.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have made clear, the UK is, and will remain, one of the most open economies in the world, including to foreign direct investment. We will also ensure that any investment serves the national interest. This deal, which involves a crucial part of the UK’s critical infrastructure, was no different. While national security considerations do not allow us to comment on the specific assessments we undertake, we continue to work collaboratively to understand and respond to all threats and hazards in the energy sector. This includes work across Government and with our agencies to understand the risk profiles, regular engagement with industry to develop mitigation strategies and ensuring that we have the knowledge and robust procedures in place to respond to challenges as they arise.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government plans to work with Ofgem to address any market distortion created by the exemption of electricity imported from the continent from transmission network access charges.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Interconnection benefits UK consumers through the access of cheaper power from other countries when we need it, which enables greater competition between generators in both markets and improves price efficiency. In the same way that UK generators are charged to access our transmission network, continental generators exporting power to the UK will be subject to a range of charges and taxes in their own countries. UK generators can also benefit from exporting without paying for access to networks in other countries. Levying further charges on the power imported via an interconnector would reduce the benefits of accessing lower priced power from markets in other countries.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
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 plans to take to ensure that reductions in energy bills do not affect commitments to emissions reductions.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
This Government is committed to tackling climate change and to the UK’s Climate Change Act. On average, Government policies reduce household energy bills because energy efficiency measures mean that less energy is used, more than offsetting the costs other policies add to energy bills.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans the Government has to provide certainty of energy policy in order to attract green technology companies to the UK.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Clean growth is a key pillar of our industrial strategy. The low carbon sector already brings significant benefits to the UK, employing over 230,000 people directly and another 200,000 through supply chains. Within the sector, the UK has established world-leading expertise in several areas of green technology, including offshore wind and electric vehicles. Since 2012, over £56 billion has been invested in renewable energy generation in the UK. In 2016, one in five battery electric cars sold in the EU was made in the UK.
Certainty for the UK’s energy policy is provided by several frameworks, including the Climate Change Act 2008. This established the UK’s 2050 target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% on 1990 levels and a supporting framework of five year carbon budgets.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2015 to Question 17357, when in 2016 he plans to introduce the new reporting requirement to report on payment practices and performance.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The reporting requirement will come into force later this year. Further information on timings will be published in due course.