Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many licenses have been issued for oil and gas drilling each year from 2019.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The most recent offshore licensing round was the 32nd UK Offshore Licensing Round. It was conducted by the Oil and Gas Authority (now the North Sea Transition Authority), and concluded on 30 September 2020, with 113 licences offered.
Four offshore licences were also offered in 2019.
No onshore licences have been offered in England in this period. Onshore oil and gas licensing is a devolved matter in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 publish the (a) number and (b) dates of meetings between Ministers in his Department and officials at UK Oil and Gas on the Surrey coal mine since 1 January 2019.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This Department holds many meetings with companies to discuss a wide range of business issues. Details of meetings held by Ministers in the Department are recorded in our transparency data, which is published at
www.gov.uk/government/collections/beis-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 made an estimate of the quantity of wood pellets that will be burnt at Drax in each year up to 2027.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has not made an estimate of the quantity of wood pellets that will be burnt at Drax, however Drax has a fixed declared net generation capacity of 2,595 MW for biomass and has previously utilised 6-7 million tonnes of biomass pellets per year when operating at capacity. Drax is able to generate electricity using a variety of biomass feedstocks, providing they meet the sustainability criteria set under the Contracts for Difference and Renewable Obligation schemes.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his Department's timescale is for making an assessment of the quantity of forestry needed to grow biomass for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage in 2050.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government only supports sustainable biomass. The Government will publish a Biomass Strategy this year which will consider the volume of forestry residues from sustainable forestry operations and the use of other sustainable feedstocks for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many tonnes of wood pellets were burnt at the Drax Power station in (a) 2020 and (b) 2021; and what the maximum quantity of wood pellets burnt permitted is under the contract which runs to 2027.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Data on tonnes of wood burned at Drax power station under the Renewable Obligation (RO) can be found here https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/biomass-sustainability-dataset-2020-21. Figures for the Contract for Difference (CfD) are as follows:
Drax’s support under the RO and their CfD contract sets no limits on the quantity of wood pellets that the generator may burn.