Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prioritise access to electricity grids for port electrification, including in relation to onshore power supply for ferries and cruise ships.

The Department is working closely with Ofgem, the National Energy System Operator, and network companies on fundamental reforms to the connections process. This is expected to release up to 500GW of capacity from the queue enabling quicker connections for many demand projects. This may include acceleration of shore power projects where capacity is released in port locations.

As announced in the Industrial Strategy, my department is also developing measures to accelerate the connection of strategic demand projects in a wide range of sectors, including through a new Connections Accelerator Service, to be launched this year.