Tabled by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the achievability of their target to decarbonise the electricity
system by 2035.
(LD)
My Lords, on behalf of my friend the noble Lord, , and with his permission,
I beg leave to ask the Question standing in his name on the Order
Paper.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy () (Con)
My Lords, the Government are confident that the policies and
programmes set out in the net-zero strategy and the British
energy security strategy will deliver our ambition to decarbonise
electricity generation in line with net zero while enhancing
security of supply and keeping energy affordable.
(LD)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply and will now read
the supplementary question from the noble Lord, . The fundamental problem
is that we are not building anywhere near enough low-carbon
energy capacity or grid infrastructure to allow us to meet the
2035 target. One of the priority recommendations of the Climate
Change Committee’s 2022 progress report is that we need a
delivery plan to provide visibility and confidence for private
sector investors to reduce costs and to build up supply chains.
There is a key gap here, in comparison with other sectors,
because, while we have the heat and building strategy and the
transport decarbonisation plan, we do not have a plan for
electricity decarbonisation, despite it being so important as an
enabler for those other plans. Does the Minister agree that it
needs urgently to be brought forward?
(Con)
We will be setting out further plans on the matter in due course.
I remind the noble Baroness that, during 2021, almost 55% of
electricity generated in the UK came from low-carbon sources. We
have an ambitious target of rolling out 50 gigawatts of offshore
wind by 2030, and we have an excellent record in this area.
(Lab)
Have the Government thought further about small modular nuclear
reactors, which could come online much sooner than the EPR
nuclear reactor proposed for Sizewell? Moreover, SMRs could have
significant export potential if they were to materialise in good
time.
(Con)
The noble Viscount is absolutely right—SMR technology is
something that we are supporting. We have given hundreds of
millions of pounds-worth of support to Rolls-Royce, which is
looking actively at how it can roll that out. It has great
potential for the future, both in this country and in its export
capacity.
(CB)
Germany and France use compulsion to ensure that large buildings
and building complexes such as car parks, industrial estates and
retail parks install solar panels on their huge roofs. I do not
think that we want compulsion in this country, but can the
Minister assure the House that the department has a policy to
ensure that this incredibly valuable opportunity to help save the
planet is actually used across the nation, perhaps with
incentives such as feed-in tariffs or grants?
(Con)
I remind the noble Baroness that we have the smart export
guarantee scheme to encourage precisely that. The good news is
that we have already 14 gigawatts of solar installed capacity in
the UK and a fourth CfD allocation round for another 2 gigawatts
of ground-mounted solar awarded contracts. The Chancellor
recently removed VAT on solar panels, and on solar panel and
storage packages. We are doing a lot in this area. Solar is a
cheap and versatile source of power, which we should encourage.
(Con)
My Lords, to have a strategy for decarbonising electricity, the
Government have to be able to say what will make up the supply
when the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining. I have
looked high and low, but I have not found a strategy that will
set that out, be it through the use of batteries or hydraulic
pumps. I have not found a document that sets out the Government’s
strategy for meeting that intermittency. Can my noble friend help
me by pointing to one?
(Con)
We have a number of energy strategies, including the energy
security strategy and the net zero strategy. As I said, we will
set out further plans in this area. My noble friend is right that
intermittency is a problem, but I remind him that we have just
invested more than £600 million in a new nuclear power station at
Sizewell, and abated gas power will also be available.
(Lab)
My Lords, before asking my question, I first congratulate the
Minister on the Government’s recent announcement earlier this
month that the Government are proposing to offer guaranteed
prices via contracts for difference for wave power, to enable
this important technology to get off the ground. Perhaps that is
a small answer to the question from by the noble Lord, . Can the Minister say more
about government support for energy generated by community
enterprises, including via the Procurement Bill?
(Con)
I thank the noble Baroness for her support. She is right in that
we allocated CfD support of 40 megawatts of wave and tidal stream
power in the last CfD round. We want to encourage community
energy and we will do all that we can, working with Ofgem, to
make sure that it is supported, because it is an important form
of generation that we want to secure.
(CB)
My Lords, by 2035, we shall need a lot more electricity to power
the growth in both EVs and heat pumps installed in homes and
buildings. As a multiple of current demand for electricity, could
the Minister tell us what is the Government’s forecast of demand
in 2035?
(Con)
The noble Lord is right that we will need a lot more electricity
both for EVs and for the electrification of heat. I cannot give
him an exact figure at this stage—it depends on a number of
different factors, not least of which is the success of our
demand reduction policies.
(Con)
My Lords, another barrier to the delivery of net zero was the
disappointing announcement on 14 December on the green taxonomy.
Unlike the answer given by our noble friend Lady Penn on 3
November in this House, it suggested that the work might be
delayed or even cancelled. Does my noble friend not agree that
taxonomy of sustainable business services could help the
financial services industry to identify appropriate activities to
support decarbonisation of the power sector and move us to net
zero?
(Con)
The noble Baroness is right that green taxonomy is an important
component. She will also be aware that the work is being taken
forward by the Treasury, with support from BEIS and Defra. I
think it is fair to say that it has a mixed record in other parts
of the world, but it is certainly something that we are looking
at closely.
(Lab)
My Lords, just to bring us back to the core issue, in its
progress report in June the Climate Change Committee highlighted
several risks that remain in meeting the emissions reductions
required by 2035—particularly highlighting how supply-side
focused the Government’s energy security strategy was. The
Minister said earlier that plans would be brought forward in due
course, but can he tell us when the Government will finally
deliver the energy efficiency improvements necessary to reduce
demand for fossil fuels to achieve net zero and to cut the energy
bills that consumers are currently struggling with?
(Con)
The noble Lord is right—energy efficiency is extremely important,
which is why we are spending £6.6 billion this Parliament on
various energy efficiency strategies. The Chancellor in his
Budget announced another £6 billion from 2025 for energy
efficiency projects. We have an ambitious target; a new task
force is being set up to deliver a 15% reduction by 2030.
(CB)
My Lords, the Minister has already mentioned the support that the
Government have given to Rolls-Royce in developing the small
modular reactor. What plans do the Government have to assist
Rolls-Royce to move this exciting British technology towards
domestic delivery?
(Con)
As the noble Lord said, we are supporting it. It has exciting
potential, but it is in the very early stages at the moment. The
designs are still being approved, but we will want to ensure that
appropriate support is given to roll it out domestically—and then
there is its tremendous export potential as well.
(GP)
My Lords, given that it is Christmas, I—
(LD)
My Lords, on Monday in Grand Committee, on day 5 of the Energy
Bill, the Minister said, in defence of the Government’s
stonewalling of support for community energy, that these schemes
rely on people subsidising uncompetitive forms of energy. That is
rich, coming from a Government who, for example, have made
communities pay more for their energy as a consequence of their
seven-year ban on onshore wind, and are presiding over bizarre
Ofgem connection policies that leave ready-to-go renewable
installations unconnected for long periods.
Noble Lords
Too long!
(LD)
Could I ask the Minister what estimate his Government or
department have made of the additional costs to communities of
their inefficient energy policies?
(Con)
I apologise to the noble Baroness, but I really did not catch
most of what her question was.
