Speeches by MacAlister.

“Indeed, Chair, yes.”

“This is a linked point on land. The NDA has a number of sites and bits of land that are not currently being used for operational purposes, including the land at Chapelcross, Sellafield, which I am very aware of and which we have had lots of conversations about over recent months, and Harwell. Are you making full use of…”

“Why does it differ between the two models and what are some of the trade-offs? It would be useful to understand the thinking on the target dispatch number.”

“I want to turn specifically to the role of nuclear in both of the pathways. Given its importance as a source of firm power generation for both options, can you talk us through why the deployment targets differ between the two and your thinking behind that? Kayte O’Neill: We agree with you that nuclear is a very importa…”

“Finally, what role do you expect thermal batteries to play and what is the trade-off with other forms of technology for industrial users?”

“Your example there is a good one to pick up on because, for example, Denmark now has a limited network access tariff that offers large energy users with flexible demand substantial discounts. Is that the kind of thing that you would like to see us use here with industrial users?”

“Can we talk a bit about industrial electrification? In “Future Energy Scenarios 2024”, in the organisation’s previous guise, you called for a review of the electricity and gas retail price difference to encourage industry to electrify. Are you of the view that you should go a step further and call for a review, and say…”

“I appreciate that.”

“The idea that to have really competitive contracts for difference auctions you need a wide number of businesses bidding into those auctions. Through the capping of potential projects within a year, the risk is that you may end up reducing the competition that takes place that you are able to pick from through a CfD auc…”

“Taking a step back to the discussion that Chris was taking us through the questions on, which goes back to the changes you announced yesterday around connections reforms, I want to understand a bit more about the relationship between capping the number of projects that can hold connections for a year with the need for …”

“To be super clear on the extension of existing plants, some of the plants are only being extended for an additional year, but you say that the announced extensions take you to the target dispatch number that is in the new dispatch pathway.”

“Have you been able to extend into any commentary beyond the 2030 goal? Life extension of existing plants, if there is no fleet replacement, just pushes the problem further out on long-term sustainability. They cannot be extended forever. Have you looked beyond 2030 at the stacking of extensions without a sufficient pip…”

“I was going to ask that. Do the extensions that have been announced take you to the number in the new dispatch pathway?”

“My constituency is fortunate enough to have a number of potential projects that are ripe for investment, including the Port of Workington and energy projects for new nuclear and other kinds of clean energy. They are essential projects for economic growth, but to get them going we need major planning reform, not just fo…”

“8. What recent progress her Department has made on planning reform.”

“I strongly welcome the Secretary of State’s signing of a new UK-US advanced nuclear technologies agreement at COP. Will he share more details of that agreement, and does he agree that it could form the basis of a much more ambitious agreement between the UK and the US on civil nuclear development?”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Lola McEvoy) on securing this important debate. I would like to say a few words about the context of this debate and the parallels between it and some of the debates in the last century, specifically to do with road safety. Despite the car being a relatively comm…”

“Thank you very much, and welcome to the Committee. The first question is about an issue that was raised during the Bill Committee for the GBE Bill, and was related to the operational independence of Great British Energy. There was a lot of reassurance provided during that process that GBE would be distinct from other i…”

“It is a tricky one for you to answer, but I am conscious of how we set these things up. We still retain a lot of the decision making in Government, giving you some responsibility without the power.”

“Okay. You have your chief executive, your board, DESNZ, Cabinet Office and Treasury. How many people are involved in the decision stages along the way? Is that an efficient process for all the things that we have been discussing in this session about pace and expertise? Some real candour from you on that would be appre…”