Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the UK's potential to produce hydrogen from onshore renewable energy between (a) 2021 and 2025 and (b) 2025 and 2030.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan confirmed our aim, working with industry, for 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 for use across the economy.
The UK has abundant sources of renewable electricity, and the Prime Minister has made a further commitment to deploying 40 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, alongside further deployment of onshore wind.
Our ongoing work with stakeholders suggests there is a strong pipeline of electrolytic hydrogen projects ready to deploy in the 2020s, building on our existing investment in research and innovation to ensure we can achieve the scale up in low carbon hydrogen production necessary to meet our future energy needs.
The forthcoming UK Hydrogen Strategy will set out further detail on the role of hydrogen production technologies in meeting our 5GW ambition, including electrolytic projects using offshore and onshore wind as a primary electricity input. This ambition will be supported by a range of measures, including a £240 million Net Zero Hydrogen Fund, and our preferred long term, sustainable business model, which we will finalise in 2022. We will be consulting shortly on these measures, alongside the publication of the UK Hydrogen Strategy.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the UK's potential to produce hydrogen from offshore renewable energy between (a) 2021 and 2025 and (b) 2025 and 2030.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan confirmed our aim, working with industry, for 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 for use across the economy.
The UK has abundant sources of renewable electricity, and the Prime Minister has made a further commitment to deploying 40 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, alongside further deployment of onshore wind.
Our ongoing work with stakeholders suggests there is a strong pipeline of electrolytic hydrogen projects ready to deploy in the 2020s, building on our existing investment in research and innovation to ensure we can achieve the scale up in low carbon hydrogen production necessary to meet our future energy needs.
The forthcoming UK Hydrogen Strategy will set out further detail on the role of hydrogen production technologies in meeting our 5GW ambition, including electrolytic projects using offshore and onshore wind as a primary electricity input. This ambition will be supported by a range of measures, including a £240 million Net Zero Hydrogen Fund, and our preferred long term, sustainable business model, which we will finalise in 2022. We will be consulting shortly on these measures, alongside the publication of the UK Hydrogen Strategy.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish the Government's hydrogen strategy; and what assessment his Department’s has made of progress on expanding the UK’s hydrogen production capacity to date.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The first ever UK Hydrogen Strategy is set to be published before summer recess and will lay out what is required to build a hydrogen economy fit for 2030, Carbon Budget 6 and beyond, whilst maximising economic benefits and supporting jobs and skills.
The UK currently produces only a minimal amount of low carbon hydrogen, for localised transport projects or trials and testing in other end uses, and a significant increase in production levels will be required to meet our future energy needs. My Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan was clear on our aim for 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 for use across the economy. We have already published an expression of interest for our Low Carbon Hydrogen Supply 2 Competition to support further innovation in this area.
We will also consult, alongside the Hydrogen Strategy, on policy instruments to further support an increase in low carbon hydrogen production, including the £240m Net-Zero Hydrogen Fund (NZHF) and our preferred long term, sustainable business model, which we will finalise in 2022.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of allocating funding to hydrogen-based steelmaking to decarbonise the UK steel industry.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
My Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan was clear on our aim for 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 for use across the economy. The forthcoming Hydrogen Strategy will set out what is required to build a hydrogen economy fit for 2030, Carbon Budget 6 and beyond, whilst maximising economic benefits. We will also consult on priority policies, including hydrogen business models, a low carbon hydrogen standard, and the £240m Net Zero Hydrogen Fund.
The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, published on 17 March, commits to work with the newly constituted Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’. Hydrogen-based steelmaking is one of the technological approaches being examined as part of this process.
To support these efforts, the Government has announced a £250 million Clean Steel Fund to support the UK steel sector to transition to lower carbon iron and steel production, through investment in new technologies and processes. The decarbonisation of the steel sector and industry more widely will also be supported through the £1 billion CCUS Infrastructure Fund (CIF) and the £240m NetZero Hydrogen Fund.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
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 planning to take to help the British steel sector to decarbonise.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Decarbonising UK industry is a core part of the Government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution. The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy published on 17 March, commits to work with the Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’.
Hydrogen, electrification, and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) are the main technological options being examined as part of this process. The industry decarbonisation pathways technical annex of the strategy (pg. 153-155) presents two possible options for the decarbonisation of the iron and steel industry.
Our wide-ranging support for the steel sector includes: providing over £500m in recent years to help with the costs of energy; a £315m Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, which aims to support businesses with high energy use to cut their bills and reduce carbon emission; and our £250m Clean Steel Fund that will support the decarbonisation of the steel sector.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
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 (a) tackle Bounce Back Loan Scheme fraud and (b) help ensure that loans under that scheme are provided to businesses based on (i) need, (ii) long-term viability and (iii) potential repayment ability.
Answered by Paul Scully
As part of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) application process, lenders undertake fraud checks, including Know Your Customer and Anti Money Laundering checks as required. In addition, the application form is clear – any individual who knowingly provides false information is at risk of criminal prosecution. We are working across Departments, along with lenders and law enforcement agencies to tackle fraudulent abuse of the scheme.
The borrower is required to self-declare that they meet the eligibility criteria for the scheme and are required to state whether they understand the costs associated with the repayment of the loan. They must also confirm that they are able, and intend to, complete timely repayments in future. Furthermore, the maximum facility size for any business borrowing under BBLS is subject to affordability limits specific to each business.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the findings of the Bloomberg New Energy Finance study, Beyond the tipping point: flexibility gaps in future high-renewable energy systems in the UK, Germany and the Nordics.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Department takes into account a wide range of information and evidence in setting the Government’s energy policies, and we welcome this and other recent reports on the renewables sector. Our recent Clean Growth Strategy sets out policies and proposals for continuing to expand the low carbon electricity sector. In addition, our Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan outlines a range of measures that the Government, Ofgem and industry are taking to enable the transition to a smarter, more flexible energy system.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
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 the battery storage industry.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Our Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan set out a range of measures that are being taken to support the development of storage in our energy system by removing policy and regulatory barriers, opening markets and committing £70 million of innovation funding for smart systems, including storage. This innovation funding is on top of the £246 million Faraday Battery Challenge to help the UK become a world leader in the research, development and manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of supporting the creation of energy markets similar to Nord Pool.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Department currently has no plans to make such an assessment.
The CMA (Competition and Markets Authority), as part of its investigation into the energy market, found that the GB wholesale markets were broadly functioning effectively.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to define energy storage.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
In our Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan, we committed to define electricity storage in primary legislation as a distinct subset of generation when parliamentary time allows. This is an important commitment and one that we will honour.