Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent estimate she has made of the mass of hydrogen required to be burned in a hydrogen-fired power plant to generate 1GWh of electricity.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Figures published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in the June 2022 Hydrogen Readiness Report suggest that an 800MWh hydrogen-fired power plant would require 50 tonnes of hydrogen fuel per hour. Therefore, a 1GWh plant could be expected to require 62.5 tonnes of hydrogen.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-generation-costs-2023
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what her Department's latest estimate is of the mass of hydrogen that would be produced per running hour by a 1GW blue hydrogen plant.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
A 1GW[1] blue hydrogen production plant running for 1 hour at full capacity would produce 1GWh of hydrogen, equivalent to 25.4 tons.
[1] Rated as 1GW on the basis that the hydrogen it produces will be used for combustion and the latent heat of vaporisation of water is recovered
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what her Department's latest estimate is of the capital expenditure cost of a new 1GW green hydrogen plant commissioning by 2030.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
‘Hydrogen Production Costs 2021’, published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in August 2021, sets out the levelised cost, based on commissioning year, of various hydrogen production technologies. The information requested can be found in the table ‘Technical and cost assumptions (2020 real prices) within the annex to the report. The capital expenditure associated with a 1GW electrolytic plant commissioning in 2030 ranges from £433 million to £1,708 million depending on the technology. Please see:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hydrogen-production-costs-2021
We will continue to monitor and update cost estimates based on new evidence as it becomes available.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what her Department's latest estimate is of the capital expenditure cost of a new 1GW blue hydrogen plant commissioning by 2030.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
‘Hydrogen Production Costs 2021’, published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in August 2021, sets out the levelised cost of various hydrogen production technologies. The information requested can be found in the table ‘Technical and cost assumptions (2020 real prices) within the annex to the report. Therefore, the cost from the table is £531 /kW hydrogen HHV meaning £531M for the 1GW plant.
Please see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hydrogen-production-costs-2021
We will continue to monitor and update cost estimates based on new evidence as it becomes available.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent estimate her Department has made of the operating expenditure cost of generating one tonne of blue hydrogen in a plant commissioning by 2030.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
'Hydrogen Production Costs 2021’, published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in August 2021, sets out the levelised cost of various hydrogen production technologies. The annex to the report (worksheet '2030_R') sets out a range of levelised costs for gas reformation with CCUS (blue) hydrogen production commissioning in 2030. Costs range from 1,454 to 3,096 £/tonne hydrogen depending on technology [1]. Please see:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hydrogen-production-costs-2021
We will continue to monitor and update cost estimates based on new evidence as it becomes available.
[1] Costs are calculated on the basis that the hydrogen is used for combustion and the latent heat of vaporisation of water is recovered.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make a comparative estimate of the funding the Government has committed to spend with the amount spent on (a) Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS), (b) hydrogen production and (c) Direct air capture (DAC) since January 2020.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
In the 2023 Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced up to £20bn for the deployment of CCUS in the UK. Commercial negotiations are ongoing. Up to £40m of the CCUS Infrastructure Fund is being spent under the UKRI Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge Fund. Under the Net Innovation Zero Portfolio (NZIP) the UK government has committed £25m to CCUS innovations.
From the £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP), £60m has been committed to the Direct Air Capture and Greenhouse Gas Removal Innovation Programme. Of this around £23 million is funding for the Direct Air Capture technology demonstration projects.
Over £127 million has been allocated to hydrogen production projects from the Net Zero Hydrogen Fund. The first hydrogen allocation round (HAR1) will provide over £2 billion of revenue support from the Hydrogen Production Business Model, which will start to be paid once projects become operational from 2025. Hydrogen innovation projects have been allocated over £170m from the NZIP.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the economic impact of electrifying the railway line between Lancaster and Morecambe.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Electrification, alongside alternative technologies such as hydrogen, battery and bi-modes, will play an important role in meeting our Net Zero targets. We are working with the Great British Rail Transition Team to bring forward options to decarbonise the whole network including Lancaster to Morecambe for government to carefully consider in terms of overall deliverability and affordability
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the £20 billion of funding announced in the Spring Budget 2023 for early deployment of carbon capture, usage and storage was in addition to previous announcements of funding for (a) carbon capture, usage and storage, (b) hydrogen power and (c) direct air capture made since January 2020.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
In March 2023 Government announced up to £20 billion funding for early deployment of CCUS across all sectors. This includes the £1 billion Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS) Infrastructure Fund (CIF), supporting the ambition for CCUS in four industrial clusters by 2030 at the latest.
The Government has also made wider announcements on funding for green technologies since 2020. For example, in May 2021, the Government announced £166m cash injection for green technology, this included £6m for the Direct Air Capture and Greenhouse Gas Removals Innovation Programme, Phase 1. In July 2022, the Government announced that carbon removal technology would benefit from over £54m of Government Funding. This was for the Direct air Capture and Greenhouse Gas Removals Programme Phase 2.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to explore green hydrogen as a solution to railway emissions.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Transport Decarbonisation plan has committed to delivering a net zero rail network by 2050, with an ambition to remove all diesel-only trains from the network by 2040. While Government expects electrification to remain the dominant zero emission technology, the government supports the deployment of alternative traction such as battery and hydrogen to decarbonise the network where it makes operational and economic sense.
Through the First of a Kind competition, the Department granted £750,000 to facilitate trials of the UK's first hydrogen-powered train, HydroFLEX, to enable a better understanding the operational feasibility of hydrogen trains. The government welcomes further innovation of hydrogen technology for the railway and will keep this under review. The Department will continue to work with the Great British Railway Transition Team to develop future options to decarbonise the railway.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to draw on academic expertise to help deliver financially sustainable rail infrastructure in developing countries.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO funds academic research into transport in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Rail examples include 1) the High-Volume Transport programme supporting modelling on the viability of hydrogen engines for rail lines in Africa and research into more resilient infrastructure and systems, including rail; and 2) the ieConnect programme evaluating mobility impacts of rail construction in Dakar, Senegal. Both programmes' research includes safety and accessibility of trains for women, girls and people with disabilities.
The Green Cities and Infrastructure Centre of Expertise will use this evidence to advise partner governments on infrastructure policies and investments in large scale urban infrastructure projects.