Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial, if he will provide an update on the delivery of the Grangemouth Renewable Energy Plant which was awarded a Contract for Difference in 2017 as part of CfD allocation round two.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) announced on 19 October 2018 its decision to terminate the contract for difference (CfD) awarded to Grangemouth Renewable Energy Plant for failing to make sufficient progress by the Milestone Delivery Date. The press release is available on the LCCC’s web site - https://www.lowcarboncontracts.uk/
CfDs are private law contracts between a generator and the LCCC, and decisions relating to whether a generator has met its milestone requirement are for the LCCC.
Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
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 value for money of the renewable heat incentive subsidy mechanism; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) compares favourably to other ways of saving carbon or generating renewable energy across the economy, contributes to our renewable targets, and plays a significant role in supporting supply chains in the renewable heating industry.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and prior to BEIS, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has made regular assessments of value for money in the RHI subsidy mechanism. The latest scheme Impact Assessment was made in February 2018 and is available on GOV.UK.
The RHI was reformed in 2017 and 2018 to focus on long-term decarbonisation, improve consumer protection, support supply chain growth and improve value for money for the taxpayer. These reforms included setting maximum heat demand limits for biomass, air source and ground source heat pumps in the Domestic RHI, removing wood drying as an eligible heat use for the Non-domestic scheme and giving Ofgem greater enforcement powers.
Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
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 Committee on Climate Change’s Biomass in a Low Carbon Economy Report published in November 2018 and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Clean Air Strategy published in January 2019, what plans he has for the future of the renewable heat incentive.
Answered by Claire Perry
In the Clean Air Strategy, the Government committed to consult on removing Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme support for new biomass installations in urban areas which are on the gas grid. The Government published the consultation Renewable Heat Incentive: Biomass Combustion in Urban Areas, seeking views on a number of proposals including the removal of RHI support for some or all or some new biomass boilers in urban areas, imposing geographical restrictions on biogas combustion and introducing regular maintenance checks on existing biomass boilers under the RHI. We will be publishing a government response to this consultation shortly.
Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
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 potential carbon and economic value generated by restricting the amount and type of wood that biomass plants in receipt of subsidies can use as fuel; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Claire Perry
Biomass plants in receipt of subsidies must comply with the UK’s sustainability criteria. Plants with a capacity of 1 megawatt and above must also prepare an annual sustainability report, compiled by a third-party auditor, which will provide assurance that the biomass is from sustainable sources.
Wood is a globally trade commodity. Prices are influenced by global demand, currency exchange rates and weather conditions. Our Wood Fuel Disclosure Survey concluded that most of the wood fuel used for electricity generation in the UK is imported and that the volumes of UK wood used are expected to remain constant.
Energy markets have grown in recent years and this has benefited woodland owners and contractors who have increased harvesting rates. Availability forecasts suggest there is potential to increase production further if businesses are willing to invest in the supply chain and encourage more woodland owners to enter the market.
Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, information his Department holds on the fuel sources for district heating systems delivered under the Government’s Heat Networks Investment Programme from April 2019, and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Claire Perry
In December 2018 we published in ‘Heat networks: Developing a market framework’ our estimate of the fuel sources that will be used in projects that will come forward under the Heat Network Investment Project. The assumed technology mix is displayed in the figure below. The estimate is based on analysis of HNIP pilot data and surveys of the project pipeline. The estimate is dynamic as it is assumed original CHP plants are replaced with lower-carbon systems at the end of their operational life.
The estimated technology mix is 22% gas back-up boiler, 33% gas CHP, 20% EfW incinerator, 5% biomass, 10% heat pump and 10% waste heat recovery.
Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the employment tribunal naming scheme.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government launched the scheme as part of the Good Work Plan in response to concerns that rates of employment tribunal payments are unacceptably low. Employers who have failed to pay a tribunal award of £200 or more at least 84 days after the original judgment will be eligible for naming.
The scheme was launched on 18 December 2018 and the Government will publish the first list of employers in due course. Therefore, it is too early to have assessed the effectiveness of the scheme.
Asked by: Stephen Kerr (Conservative - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what ongoing estimate he is making of the number of people who have not received payments due to them following employment tribunals and mediation processes.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
It is right that people get what they are owed, and we know employment tribunal awards are not always paid promptly. Government commissioned research in 2013 found that only 53% of successful claimants received full or part payment without enforcement action. 35% had not received any payment at all.
Following this research Government introduced the BEIS penalty scheme in 2016 and have since recovered over £1.5 million to workers of previously unpaid awards. We will now also name employers who do not pay employment tribunal awards within a reasonable period.
We have also recently commissioned research on employment tribunals that will include payment rate information for employment tribunal awards, Acas conciliated and private settlements.