Asked by Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb To ask Her Majesty’s
Government what assessment they have made of the potential for home
battery storage to change the dynamics of energy supply and demand.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Lord Henley) (Con)
My Lords, the Government and Ofgem...Request free trial
Asked by
-
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have
made of the potential for home battery storage to change
the dynamics of energy supply and demand.
-
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Lord Henley)
(Con)
My Lords, the Government and Ofgem published a smart
systems and flexibility plan in July 2017, which outlines a
series of actions to support the transition to a smart
energy system. They include an assessment of changes in our
energy system and measures to address the barriers to
storage, whether in the form of home batteries or the range
of grid storage technologies.
-
(GP)
I thank the Minister for his reply. I am sure that the
Government have thought this through—or not—but as nuclear
subsidies increase and the cost of national grid
electricity rises, more people will move to solar and
domestic storage of energy. That means that people still
using the national grid will be the poorest in society
because they cannot afford all these extra measures. Have
the Government thought through how the poor will be
relieved of paying for very expensive electricity?
-
Obviously there will be changes as more people make use of
storage. That will have an effect on the grid because if
some people increase their use of storage, they may even be
able to go off-grid in future. The noble Baroness is right
to draw the House’s attention to that issue. That is a
matter for Ofgem; it can certainly look at that to make
sure that it can create a level playing field for all
consumers.
-
(Con)
My Lords, I declare my interests in energy, as in the
register. Is my noble friend aware—I am sure that he
is—that offshore wind producers are now saying that they
can produce electricity at £62.50 per megawatt hour? Of
course, commercial storage will make it considerably lower,
if we go for it. Does that not cast a shadow over the costs
of the contract at Hinkley Point C, which are for £92.50
for the next 35 years, indexed? Is it not time to question
some of these lavish expenditures, which are having very
little effect on carbon reduction and greatly increasing
the charges to poor consumers?
-
My Lords, at this stage, I do not want to get into the
wider question of Hinkley C costs. I think it would be
rather dangerous for me to go down that route. My noble
friend is right to say that increased use of home battery
storage, possible greater use of batteries in cars as a
means of storage in years to come and greater use of other
forms of storage, which the noble Baroness and my noble
friend referred to—he is probably aware that we already
have about 5 gigawatts of storage in the system, which is
mainly pumped hydroelectricity—have implications for costs
throughout the grid, which will need to be addressed.
-
(Lab)
Has an audit been carried out of lithium resources
worldwide or has it all been left to market forces?
-
My Lords, so far, we have seen the cost of lithium-ion
batteries drop by some 50% over the last five years, since
2012. That implies that resources of lithium are more or
less okay and that market forces are driving costs down. I
do not have the figures on long-term estimates of
quantities of lithium, but that will be taken into account
by the market in due course.
-
(CB)
My Lords, with respect to the previous question, would it
not be a good idea for the Government to follow that issue
rather carefully, so that the consumer can have a realistic
price? Solar cells and storage batteries are expensive, and
people selling them do not always give straightforward
information. It would be a good idea, would it not, for the
Government to look at this in some detail, so that
consumers can be given reliable advice on the cost of such
storage?
-
My Lords, as I said in my answer to the previous question,
the cost of lithium-ion batteries has come down
considerably—by 50%. Batteries are still expensive but it is
in the interests of some consumers to buy them to even out
their use of electricity and make savings. Obviously, any
advice that they can get, which was partly behind the
Government and Ofgem’s smart systems flexibility plan, would
be of use to those consumers.
-
(LD)
My Lords, the more smart meters are installed in our homes,
the more potential there will be for battery storage. Will
the Minister assure us that the promise the Government made
of 26,000 smart meters in our homes before 2020 will really
happen?
-
My Lords, we are on track for that. As the noble Baroness
will be aware, legislation dealing with this is coming
forward. I hope we will get there; I see no reason why not.
-
(Con)
My Lords, does my noble friend not agree that one way to
change the dynamics of our energy supply would be to approve
the Swansea tidal lagoon as quickly as possible, a decision
on which has been pending for rather a long time?
-
My noble friend makes a very interesting point. No doubt that
will be addressed, but it is somewhat wide of the Question
relating to battery storage. It obviously will have an effect
on our production of electricity overall.
-
(Lab)
My Lords, given the performance review in the summer and the
driverless and electric vehicle charging point Bill currently
in the House of Commons, why is there so little in the Bill
to incentivise people to purchase batteries?
-
My Lords, I do not think there is so little. There is quite
enough to encourage people to buy batteries. That is why they
are and why we have seen a reduction in their price.
|
