Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the viability of hydrogen as an industrial fuel.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Low carbon hydrogen is likely to be a leading option to decarbonise industrial processes that are harder or more expensive to electrify. We expect uptake of hydrogen via fuel switching of energy intensive sites, as well as those engaging in high temperature, direct-fired processes. Near-term opportunities for hydrogen conversion include high temperature steam boilers and combined heat and power (CHP) processes in sectors such as chemicals and refineries, especially in industrial clusters with early access to hydrogen.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department is taking steps to help large food manufacturing companies reduce high energy consumption.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is reviewing what levers can be introduced to help organisations to be more energy efficient. The Energy Efficiency Taskforce was launched to help achieve our target of reducing UK energy demand by 15% from 2021 levels by 2030.
The IETF, which supports industries including the food and drinks sector to cut energy consumption by investing in more efficient technologies, has been extended. Pending business case approval, Phase 3 will launch in early 2023.
Some food manufacturing companies are supported in reducing energy costs through the Climate Change Agreements Scheme and the Combined Heat and Power Quality Assurance Programme.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether subsidies for biomass will be included under the contracts for difference scheme after 2027.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Biomass is eligible for the current Contracts for Difference Scheme for specific technologies including anaerobic digestion (above 5MW), landfill gas, sewage gas, advanced conversion technologies, energy from waste with combined heat and power and dedicated biomass plants with combined heat and power. Allocation Round 5 (AR5) opened in March 2023 for new projects with delivery years of 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28 for pot 1 technologies and 2026/27 and 2027/28 for pot 2 technologies.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has published recent guidance for the (a) owners and (b) operators of large buildings in Greater London on replacing ageing (i) gas boilers and (ii) combined heat and power units with zero or ultra-low emission alternatives.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department has not published guidance for owners or operators of large buildings in London on replacing ageing gas boilers. Powering Up Britain sets out the Government's ambition to phase out new and replacement natural gas boilers by 2035.
In September 2021, the Government issued a call for evidence – ‘Combined heat and power: pathway to decarbonisation’ – in which it sought views on potential decarbonisation options. The feedback has been published and is informing future Government policy.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether a Microgeneration Scheme Certificate is required to access a Smart Energy Generation payment.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG), generators using solar, wind and micro-combined heat and power (CHP) installations up to 50kW are required to demonstrate that their installation and installer are suitably certified to be eligible to receive SEG payments from a supplier. This may be a Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certificate, but the SEG also recognises that other schemes may be equivalent to MCS. Further details about the SEG eligibility requirements can be found at https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/smart-export-guarantee-guidance-generators
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the statement of losses and special payments in his Department’s annual report for 2021-22, what organisation was the original recipient of the £6 million infrastructure loan written off by his Department; what infrastructure project was that loan intended to fund; and in which financial year was the loan paid.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
As part of the UK Guarantees Scheme, HM Treasury (HMT) provided a £48m guarantee in August 2014 for bonds issued by the Speyside Biomass Combined Heat and Power project in Moray, Scotland. In October 2020, Speyside Renewable Energy Partnership entered administration and HMT provided a working capital loan to the administrators.
The asset was sold in March 2022 and the debt guarantee was released with the guaranteed debt fully repaid in March 2022. However, as part of the administration process, the working capital loan was not fully repaid and £6 million was written off as reported in the Annual Reports and Accounts.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
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 conducted a recent cost-benefit analysis of energy from waste facilities.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
BEIS has assessed that energy from waste for electricity generation is economically viable without Government support, and therefore only energy from waste with combined heat and power is supported under the Contracts for Difference scheme.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to introduce grants for small and medium sized business to allow them to invest in renewable energy sources.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is supporting commercial rooftop solar installation through tax-relief to businesses choosing to install solar panels until March 2023 and business rates exemption for onsite-renewable generation until March 2035. Subject to conditions, existing permitted development rights allow solar on and around domestic and commercial buildings without planning permission. In the British Energy Security Strategy, the Government committed to reviewing the rights and simplify planning processes.
Under the Smart Export Guarantee, small-scale low-carbon electricity generators, with a total installed capacity of up to 5MW, and micro-combined heat and power up to 50kW, can receive payment for renewable electricity they export.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential of combined heat and power systems; both as an alternative to gas and in relation to climate change targets.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In 2020, CHP represented 7.7% of the UK’s total electricity generation and 8.5% of gas demand. Approximately 85% of fuel used in CHPs in 2020 was fossil fuel (72% of which was natural gas). CHP plants are used by a wide variety of sectors, in particular chemicals, food and drink, paper and refining industries. CHPs are also used in large commercial and civic buildings with high heat demands, such as hospitals, hospitality and leisure facilities, retail outlets and heat networks.
The Government recognises the benefits CHP can bring, such as primary energy savings associated with making use of the heat from power generation compared to separate heat and power generation, and grid stability.
The Government continues to develop policies to support the decarbonisation of CHP in the future and is reviewing the potential role for CHP using various fuel sources going forward. As part of this review, we have published a call for evidence on CHP: Pathway to Decarbonisation that closes on 20 December 2021. In the Heat and Buildings Strategy, Government proposed to regularly review the contributions of different technologies.
As outlined in the Hydrogen Strategy, analysis indicates that boilers and CHP installations could make up around two thirds of demand for hydrogen fuel switching by 2030 in industrial sectors.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they removed combined heat and power from the second phase of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. On the path to net zero, the Net Zero Strategy and the Heat and Buildings Strategy committed to an aim of reducing emissions from public sector buildings by 75% by 2037. We are clear that the continued use of fossil fuels for heating is not compatible with that ambition.
In order to help meet this ambitious emissions reduction target, the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme has a strong focus on reducing on-site emissions in public sector buildings. It is a scheme requirement that all funded projects remove a fossil fuel heating system and replace this with a low carbon heating system. This means that grant funding cannot be used to purchase any heating technology that runs on fossil fuels, including gas and oil Combined Heat and Power units.