Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the financial and other benefits of new nuclear energy capacity in contrast with new wind capacity.

The Department’s analysis published in 2020 showed that most of the UK’s future electricity needs should be met from renewables and flexible technologies, including energy storage and demand side response. But it also demonstrated that to achieve a stable, low-cost electricity system and meet Net Zero, we need more low-carbon, firm power such as nuclear to complement the intermittency of technologies like wind and solar and the uncertainties of storage technologies.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/modelling-2050-electricity-system-analysis

The Government’s Carbon Budget 6 (CB6) trajectory also suggests that we will need to build all low carbon technologies at, or close to, their maximum technical limit, to meet the twin challenge of accelerating decarbonisation and servicing increased demand – that is why we have set out bold plans to deploy up to 24GW of nuclear by 2050, alongside our ambitions for 50GW offshore wind by 2030, the development of onshore wind where it enjoys the backing of local communities, and 70GW solar by 2035.