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 made an assessment of the potential merits of re-classifying electricity storage vessels to enable distribution network operators to utilise such vessels without paying generation charges.

In the Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan, published last July, the Government and Ofgem said that measures should be taken to limit the ownership and operation of electricity storage by distribution network operators. This is to prevent competitive activities being carried out by monopoly network operators, which would inhibit fair competition in the market. Ofgem subsequently consulted on limiting the ownership and operation of storage by distribution network operators in October last year, and we expect Ofgem to finalise their position in the coming months.