Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
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 potential effect of bringing at least one large-scale nuclear reactor to final investment decision on (a) the future energy security of the UK and (b) the long-term stability of energy prices.
Answered by Greg Hands
New nuclear power has a key role to play as the Government works to reduce the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels and our exposure to volatile global gas prices. My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s Net Zero Strategy published on 19 October committed to legislating for a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) funding model for new nuclear projects to facilitate a final investment decision this Parliament on one large scale nuclear plant. On 26 October, the Government introduced the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill. The RAB model could reduce the cost of financing new nuclear power plants, saving the average dual fuel household more than £10 per year throughout the life of each nuclear power station, which can operate for 60 years. In December 2020, the Government announced the start of formal negotiations on Sizewell C and those negotiations are ongoing.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
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 bring at least one large-scale nuclear project to a final investment decision during the course of this Parliament.
Answered by Greg Hands
In order to facilitate a final investment decision on at least one new large-scale nuclear project this Parliament, we introduced the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill on 26 October, which will establish the RAB as a funding option for new nuclear projects, as well as implement further measures to enable private investment in this sector. The RAB model could reduce the cost of building and financing new nuclear power plants, helping to unlock private investment into these projects and saving consumers money on their bills.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many covid-19 vaccines his Department has ordered for delivery in each year of the next five years.
Answered by George Freeman
The UK government has secured early access to 332 million vaccines doses through supply agreements with five separate vaccine developers. This includes agreements with:
Of these, Pfizer/BioNTech, University of Oxford/AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines have received MHRA regulatory approval and are currently in deployment in the UK. The Janssen vaccine has also received regulatory approval and deliveries are expected later this year. The Novavax vaccine is yet to receive regulatory approval, so timings for delivery are dependent on this.
Due to commercial sensitivities, we are not able to provide detailed timelines for delivery.
We are in regular contact with the vaccine manufacturers and are confident in our vaccine supplies going into the autumn/ winter, having already secured the doses we need for everyone in the UK who requires a booster.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
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 has placed advance purchase orders for (a) next-generation universal coronavirus or (b) nasal-spray covid-19 vaccines.
Answered by George Freeman
The UK government has secured early access to 332 million vaccines doses through supply agreements with five separate vaccine developers. This includes agreements with:
We have not purchased any next-generation universal coronavirus or nasal-spray covid-19 vaccines; however, the Vaccine Taskforce keeps our portfolio and emerging vaccines under review.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
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 has taken to inform businesses in the (a) retail, (b) hospitality and (c) leisure sectors of the role of ventilation in inhibiting the spread of covid-19.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Working Safely guidance encourages businesses to ensure that their ventilation is adequate as a mitigation against COVID-19. We have amplified messages around ventilation through our wider engagement with businesses including regular discussions with sector bodies and meetings with business representatives.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has also used existing communication routes to direct members of their Hospitality Industry Liaison Forum to their ventilation guidance. To increase messaging impact, BEIS added a link to a HSE video on ventilation to our Working Safely guidance. Our guidance is kept under constant review and is updated when new evidence arises.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average capital cost per megawatt of capacity is for UK offshore wind farms that (a) were commissioned in the last five years, (b) are due to be commissioned in the next five years and (c) was assumed in his Department's 2020 Cost of Electricity Generation report.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The Department’s 2020 Cost of Electricity Generation Report[1] presents forecasts from 2025 to 2040. In response to point (c), the capital costs assumed in the report are £1.95million per megawatt capacity, in 2018 prices, for a UK offshore wind farm commissioning in 2025. The above can also be taken as the Department’s assumption for (b), wind farms that are due to be commissioned in the next five years.
The Department does not hold historic project data on (a), capital costs for UK offshore wind farms commissioned in the past five years.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beis-electricity-generation-costs-2020
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the financing of new nuclear power stations; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
As set out in our response to the consultation on the Regulated Asset Base (RAB), RAB is a credible model for financing large-scale nuclear projects. It is also our assessment that using a RAB for such projects would require primary legislation. We are continuing to explore the RAB model with nuclear project developers and undertaking further policy development. We are also continuing to assess the potential role of Government finance during the construction of a nuclear project, subject to clear value for money for consumers and taxpayers, and all relevant approvals.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
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 merits of undertaking a Strategic Environmental Assessment into the hazards of mass deployment of lithium-ion batteries for grid storage.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
There are mechanisms in place at a local level to assess the environmental impacts and benefits of lithium-ion battery storage projects. Any applications for such projects will be carefully assessed by relevant decision-makers against all relevant criteria.