Asked by: Tom Greatrex (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the number of measures installed under the Energy Companies Obligation by (a) measure and (b) obligation in (i) Scotland, (ii) England and (iii) Wales in each month since January 2013.
Answered by Amber Rudd
The Department is unable to provide a breakdown of measures installed under the Energy Companies Obligation by measure type by country by month. This would require additional resource to extract this data (beyond the time/cost limit for named day PQs) as this level of information is not currently published by DECC. DECC currently only publish cumulative totals to the end of each quarter for any geographic breakdown tables. Attached Table 1 shows the provisional number of ECO measures by ECO obligation by country by quarter, up to 30th June 2014.
The provisional number of ECO measures by (b) obligation, in (i) Scotland, (ii) England and (iii) Wales is published in Table 1.11 of the quarterly official statistics:
Asked by: Tom Greatrex (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the operator's liability for decommissioning costs are capped in the contract for difference for Hinkley Point C, or whether these will be passed on to EDF in full.
Answered by Matt Hancock
There is no cap in the contract for difference for Hinkley Point C on the operator’s liability for decommissioning costs.
The Government’s policy is that operators of new nuclear power stations must have arrangements in place to meet the full costs of decommissioning and their full share of waste management and disposal costs. This policy is being implemented through a framework created by the Energy Act 2008. The Energy Act requires operators of new nuclear power stations to have a Funded Decommissioning Programme approved by the Secretary of State in place before construction of a new nuclear power station begins and to comply with this programme thereafter.
Asked by: Tom Greatrex (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment his Department has made of the forecast levelised costs for nuclear power generation with a date of commission in (a) 2020, (b) 2025, (c) 2030 and (d) 2035.
Answered by Matt Hancock
DECC’s most recently published figures for current and future levelised costs are available in the DECC Electricity Generation Costs (December 2013) report:
Table 1 below is taken from this report, and shows a range of levelised cost estimates for nuclear projects commissioning in 2020, 2025 and 2030, evaluated using a technology specific hurdle rate of 9.5% (pre-tax real). Estimates are not available for projects commissioning in 2035.
Table 1: Levelised cost estimates for nuclear projects, technology specific hurdle rate, sensitivities around high/low capital costs
£/MWh £2012 | Projects commissioning in 2020, £/MWh | Projects commissioning in 2025, £/MWh | Projects commissioning in 2030, £/MWh |
Nuclear | 79 - 102 | 75 – 101 | 67 - 89 |
Levelised cost estimates for different types of electricity generation are highly sensitive to the assumptions used for capital costs, fuel and EU ETS allowance prices, operating costs, load factor, discount rate and other drivers and this means that there is significant uncertainty around these estimates.
Asked by: Tom Greatrex (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the average time taken between a receipt of application and the granting of (a) groundwater permits, (b) mining waste disposal permits, (c) water discharge activity permits, (d) water abstraction licences, (e) radioactive substances activity permits and (f) industrial emissions permits by the Environment Agency in the last four years.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The Environment Agency is required to determine 95% of development consent applications in 91 days or less subject to agreed exceptions. The Environment Agency continues to meet this target.
The table below sets out the average time taken between receipt of application and the determination for applications under the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR, covering activities (a),(b),(c) and (f)), and for water abstraction (d).
2011 (Avg time in days) | 2012 (Avg time in days) | 2013 (Avg time in days) | 2014 (Avg time in days) | |
EPR average (a,b,c,f ) | 79.3 | 81.1 | 61.8 | 53.2 |
Water abstraction (d) | 127.5 | 90.9 | 75.8 | 49.4 |
The following table provides the average times taken for each EPR activity. Information is not held centrally for ground water applications or radioactive substances.
| 2011 (Avg time in days) | 2012 (Avg time in days) | 2013 (Avg time in days) | 2014 (Avg time in days) | |
(a) & (c) | Water discharge applications (including ground water discharges) | 41.3 | 45.3 | 34.0 | 35.4 |
All Waste permits (inc mining waste) | 125.6 | 92.3 | 79.8 | 64.6 | |
(b) | Mining waste permitting | 42.5 | 116.4 | 78.9 | 65.9 |
(e) | Radioactive Substances | Based on the 14/15 half-year figures - 98.5% are determined in under 91 days
| |||
(f) | Industrial Emissions Permits | 82.7 | 102.9 | 74.5 | 62.4 |
Asked by: Tom Greatrex (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many bids were received in the 14th licensing round for onshore oil and gas.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The 14th Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing Round closed for applications on the 28th October 2014, and we have received 95 applications covering in total 295 blocks. (A block for these purposes is a 10x10 km area.) Some blocks were applied for by more than one applicant.
Asked by: Tom Greatrex (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when he intends to announce the awarding of licences arising from the 14th Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing round.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The assessment of the applications received is in hand, but it is too early to say how soon the necessary work can be completed. We hope to be able to announce licence offers in the early part of 2015.
Asked by: Tom Greatrex (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many full-time equivalent officials of what grade in his Department have been assigned to assist UK Coal in the drafting of a state aid bid.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Senior Officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Yorkshire Humber North East Office have been assigned to assist UK Coal following their interest in applying for government funding to extend the operation of the two remaining deep mines until the end of 2018. These officials met with UK Coal on 10 October and are now working with them to help prepare a case for Government support. The company fully understands that this is the first phase of a complex and challenging process before the government submits a state aid case to the European Commission.
Asked by: Tom Greatrex (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what forecast he has made of (a) the number of smart meters installed and (b) the cost on the consumer bill of the installation of such meters in each quarter between Q3 2014 and Q3 2018.
Answered by Amber Rudd
The larger energy suppliers have provided yearly smart and advanced meter installation forecasts to DECC, which were published in the ‘Second Annual Report on the Roll-out of Smart Meters’ in December 2013:
These figures will be updated in the next annual report based on the most recent projections by suppliers. It should be noted that these figures do not include any of the smaller suppliers’ estimates, nor take into account any growth in customer numbers.
DECC does not project bill impacts on a quarter by quarter basis and DECC’s latest prices and bills report from March 2013 contained projected bill impacts from smart metering for 2013, 2020 and 2030:
The smart meter Impact Assessment published in January 2014, estimates that even at their peak in 2015 the costs to the average consumer will be £6, or less than 0.5% of the average bill:
Taking into account all costs and savings, by 2017 the average consumer will start saving money, leading to an annual net saving of £26 in 2020, increasing to £43 a year in 2030 in comparison to a situation without smart meters.
Asked by: Tom Greatrex (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of (a) the total cost to his Department and (b) the number of full time equivalent staff employed in administering the fourteenth licensing round for onshore oil and gas.
Answered by Matt Hancock
No assessment to date has been made on the total cost to DECC of administering the 14th licensing round. The consideration of applications made in the licensing round is yet to take place and the number of applications relevant staff will need to consider will not be known until the passing of the application deadline on the 28th October 2014.
Up to four members of staff have had substantial involvement in preparations for the round to date, and up to six more may be involved in the assessment of applications once received and in the issue of licences in accordance with Ministers’ decisions. In addition, the Department is conducting environmental assessments related to the round, with assistance from external consultants.
Asked by: Tom Greatrex (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the overall cost to the consumer in 2014 prices of the contract for difference for Hinkley Point C over its 35 year lifetime.
Answered by Matt Hancock
We have not made an estimate of the overall cost to the consumer in 2014 prices as the CPI index for the full year is not yet available.