Every parliamentary written question tabled by Claire Coutinho this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 21–40 of 49 · Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
What the total cost of procuring frequency control services was in each month since January 2022.
The data requested is a matter of public record and is published by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) here under the headings “MBSS” and “MBSS Archive”.
When he plans to publish his Department's hydrogen to power business model.
In December 2024, the Government committed to implementing a Hydrogen to Power Business Model (H2PBM) to de-risk Hydrogen to Power investment by mitigating deployment barriers.Later this year, we will publish a H2PBM market engagement exercise outlining further design details for the H2PBM, including our minded to positions on eligibility and assessment criteria and proposed next steps for allocating support through the business model.
Pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2025 to Question 43723 on Carbon Emissions: Trees, if he will ask Drax Group plc to share the interim KPMG report of December 2022 with Members of Parliament.
The KPMG reports were commissioned by Drax as a confidential internal fact-finding exercise and are the property of Drax. The government does not hold them. It is for Drax to decide whether they wish to release them to Parliament or the public. Ofgem has already published significant details as to how these reports were considered as part of their investigation.
If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the CO2 released annually by Drax Power Station on the ability of the UK to meet the emissions reduction targets included in the Climate Change Committee's Carbon Budgets.
CO2 emissions from the combustion of biomass at Drax Power Station are not included in the assessment of emissions in Carbon Budgets. This is consistent with international guidelines established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which require CO2 emissions from the combustion of biomass to be accounted for in the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector of the country in which the biomass was harvested, rather than at the point of release to the atmosphere.
Pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2025 to Question 43723 on Carbon Emissions: Trees, whether it is standard practice for officials in his Department to receive time-limited access to documents when negotiating subsidy arrangements.
DESNZ officials were granted access by Drax to review the KPMG reports in January 2025. These reports were internal fact-finding documents, commissioned by Drax under legal privilege to review their biomass supply chain against the sustainability requirements of existing arrangements. Drax granted DESNZ access to these internal documents which enabled Government to better understand their contents and the conclusions of Ofgem’s investigation, which we support.
For what reason his Department has not conducted an impact assessment of its proposed extension of the Drax Power Station subsidy arrangements.
We are conducting a rigorous economic assessment of the proposed support for Drax, including detailed value for money analysis. Our current analysis shows that the new arrangement will halve the level of consumer subsidy compared to existing arrangements. This is equivalent to a saving of nearly £6 per household in average annual bills. When compared to the cost of securing alternative dispatchable capacity for this timeframe, the arrangement with Drax will save consumers £170m a year.
If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of increasing the price per megawatt hour of the subsidies received by the Drax Power Station by 13% on his plans to reduce household energy bills by up to £300.
The strike price for the proposed low carbon dispatchable CfD with Drax is £113 MWh (2012 prices) compared to £100 MWh (2012 prices) currently. This modest increase reflects that Drax’s fixed operating costs will be spread over far fewer units of generation. However, the proposed CfD arrangement caps the volume of supported generation to an annual load factor of 27%. Our analysis shows this would halve overall subsidy payments relative to current arrangements, resulting in a decrease of around £6 on the average household bill. Further, this arrangement incentivises dispatchable biomass generation only when the system needs it, ensuring consumers can benefit from cheaper wind and solar power at other times.
Pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2025 to Question 43723 on Carbon Emissions: Trees, if he will publish minutes of meetings with officials where the KPMG report was discussed.
We have determined that it would not be in the public interest to release further information on this issue in this instance. Protecting commercially sensitive information facilitates the frank exchange of information between the private sector and government, and ensures ministers and civil servants can have honest, unfiltered discussions during the policy-making process.
Pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2025 to Question 43723 on Carbon Emissions: Trees, if he will publish emails where the KPMG report was discussed.
We have determined that it would not be in the public interest to release further information on this issue in this instance. Protecting commercially sensitive information facilitates the frank exchange of information between the private sector and government, and ensures ministers and civil servants can have honest, unfiltered discussions during the policy-making process.
Pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2025 to Question 47816 on Renewable Energy: Electricity Generation, what the annual cost to consumers of the Offtaker of Last Resort scheme has been since 2015.
Since its launch there have been no applications to the OLR scheme and no Backstop PPAs have been entered into. The only costs related to the scheme are the administrative costs incurred by Ofgem. The cost of the scheme for 2024/25 was £26,902. Details of the activities associated with these costs can be accessed here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/offtaker-last-resort-olr-annual-report-april-2023-march-2024
Whether the Offtaker of Last Resort scheme has been implemented.
The Scheme was introduced on 1 October 2015 and is intended as a last resort to help renewable generators who have an Investment Contract or Contracts for Difference (CFD) contract, who cannot get a PPA through the usual commercial means. Ofgem administer the Offtaker of Last Resort and publish an annual report on the scheme’s operation.
If he will make an estimate of the potential impact of the smart export guarantee on annual costs to consumers in each year since 2020.
The Smart Export Guarantee is a market-driven mechanism that captures the value of small-scale exported electricity and helps meet net zero commitments at the lowest net cost to consumers and businesses. This means that SEG tariffs are set by energy suppliers and the SEG is not expected to lead to a direct cost on consumer bills.
What estimate his Department has made of the proportion of Transmission Network Use of System charges that were caused by the (a) expansion and (b) reinforcement required for renewable energy in each year since 2002.
The Government does not hold this information. Transmission Network Use of System (TNUoS) charges recover the cost of installing and maintaining the high-voltage transmission network, which are paid for by electricity suppliers and transmission-connected generators and administered by the National Energy System Operator (NESO). The charges reflect the costs imposed on the network by generators and demand in different locations. NESO publishes annual TNUoS charges here: https://www.neso.energy/industry-information/charging/tnuos-charges#TNUOS-tariffs-and-notifications-of-changes.
What estimate his Department has made of the cost of the Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin scheme in each year since 2003.
REGO certificates are issued by Ofgem to eligible generators for free, and certificates are then purchased by electricity suppliers to surrender in the Fuel Mix Disclosure process. This has generated a market for the sale and purchase of certificates. The price of REGOs fluctuates, though credible external estimates suggest that the latest spot market price is around £7 a certificate. Ofgem reports 130 million certificates are issued per year, giving an overall market value of around £910m annually.
What estimate his Department has made of the proportion of Distribution Use of System charges that were the result of connecting renewable energy generation assets in each year since 2002.
The Government does not hold this information. Distribution Use of System (DUoS) charges are paid for by electricity suppliers and distribution connected generatorsand passed onto consumers through electricity bills. Each Distribution Network Operator (DNO) publishes charging statements every year, which are publicly available on their websites. The system is experiencing rising DUoS charges, due partly to the costs of upgrading the network to connect renewable generation and storage. However, the Government does not hold estimates apportioning overall distribution network costs to these generation sources specifically.
What estimate his Department has made of the proportion of Balancing Services Use of System charges that were caused by the management of renewable energy generation assets in each year since 2002.
Balancing Services Use of System (BSUoS) charges are administered by the National Energy System Operator (NESO). The variable nature of renewable and low carbon intermittent sources of generation can require NESO to undertake additional grid balancing actions. The Government does not hold data apportioning overall balancing costs to these generation sources specifically. NESO publishes BSUoS charges here: Balancing Services Use of System (BSUoS) charges | National Energy System Operator
What estimate his Department has made of the annual cost of Distribution Use of System charges since 2002.
The Government does not hold this information. Distribution Use of System (DUoS) charges are paid for by electricity suppliers and distribution connected generatorsand passed onto consumers through electricity bills. Each Distribution Network Operator (DNO) publishes charging statements every year, which are publicly available on their websites. The system is experiencing rising DUoS charges, due partly to the costs of upgrading the network to connect renewable generation and storage. However, the Government does not hold estimates apportioning overall distribution network costs to these generation sources specifically.
Pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2025 to Question 24699 on Electricity: Artificial Intelligence, if he will publish the report by European Economic Research Limited on the future net energy demand of artificial intelligence when it has been received by his Department.
It is DESNZ policy to publish contracted technical work once it has been independently internally peer reviewed. We intend to similarly publish the report by European Economic Research Limited once it is completed in April.
Pursuant to the Answer of 23 January to Question 24699 on Electricity: Artificial Intelligence, if he will publish the terms of reference for European Economic Research Limited's analysis of the future net energy demand of artificial intelligence.
This project was awarded through an open tender process, which concluded in November. As part of this process, the terms of reference for the project were publicly disclosed. Once the tender closed and had been awarded to the European Economic Research Limited, we published a Contract Award Notice, (CAN) on the government Contracts Finder website.
Pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2025 to Question 24699 on Electricity: Artificial Intelligence, what the value is of the contract awarded to European Economic Research Limited to analyse the future net energy demand of artificial intelligence.
This information will be made publicly available the usual way through the Department's annual report and accounts.