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25 Nov 2008 : Column 1474W—continued
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with oil companies on passing on recent falls in the price of oil via reductions in the pump price of fuel; what response was received; and if he will make a statement. [233887]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I will shortly be meeting with some oil industry representatives on 27 November and I have made clear publicly that 1 want to see petrol and diesel prices fall. The evidence is that this is happening with some petrol prices as low as 89.9p a litre.
Plutonium
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what meetings officials of (a) his Department and of (b) the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, when it was responsible for nuclear policy, have had with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to discuss the development of the plutonium management strategy since January 2006. [228644]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Officials have been meeting with the NDA regularly since January 2006 to discuss the development of options for managing the UK's civil plutonium stocks. Meetings were held prior to and following the publication of NDA's paper, Uranium and Plutonium: A Macro-Economic study. Further discussions have been ongoing since then, increasing in frequency in the lead up to and following the options paper published on NDA's website in August this year.
Renewable Energy: Finance
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what funding the Government has provided for the Hydrogen, Fuel Cell and Carbon Abatement Technologies Demonstration Programme in each financial year since its creation. [234614]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The Government support the demonstration of Hydrogen Fuel Cells and Carbon Abatement Technologies through the Environmental Transformation fund (ETF). The programmes were launched in October 2006. This is a £50 million programme
of which over £4 million has been committed to four Hydrogen and Fuel Cell projects and some £2.2 million to one Carbon Abatement Technology project. The following table outlines the spend to date:
| Hydrogen Fuel Cells and Carbon Abatement Technologies—ETF | ||
| £ million | ||
| Spend | ||
| Actual | Predicted | |
Renewable Energy: Finance
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the budget is for the Hydrogen, Fuel Cell and Carbon Abatement Technologies Demonstration Programme in (a) this financial year and (b) each of the next five financial years. [234609]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Machinery of Government changes of 3 October 2008 announced the creation of DECC, formed from the Energy Group located in BERR and the Climate Change Group located in DEFRA.
The annual budgets for DECC are currently being decided. BERR and DEFRA will transfer their budgets for Energy and Climate Change respectively, based on the settlements agreed in the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 (CSR07), for the financial years 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11. The annual budgets for DECC and hence the ETF and its component programmes, including the Hydrogen Fuel Cell and Carbon Abatement Technologies Programme, will be agreed in due course.
Renewable Energy: North East
Sir Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether planning consents already given in renewable energy projects in the North East meet or exceed the renewable energy targets in the North East Regional Spatial Strategy for (a) 2010, (b) 2015 and (c) 2020. [226968]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Government’s Climate Change supplement to Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 1— Delivering Sustainable Development expects planning authorities to set regional targets for renewable energy generation in line with PPS22—Renewable Energy, and to
“ensure their ambition fully reflects opportunities in the region, are consistent with the Government’s national targets and, where appropriate in the light of delivery, are periodically revised upwards”.
The North East Regional Spatial Strategy, published in July 2008, does not set targets for renewable energy. It includes a target of at least 10 per cent of the region’s electricity consumption from renewable sources (454 megawatts (MW) minimum installed capacity) by 2010. It has an aspiration to double this by 2020 but does not include any target for 2015.
The following table sets out total installed capacity of planning development consents approved for renewable electricity projects in the North East region as at 30 September 2008.
| Technology | Installed capacity (MW) |
Renewables Obligation
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the (a) initial and (b) final value has been of a renewables obligation certificate, including late payments, in each year of operation of the Renewables Obligation; and if he will make a statement. [237672]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 20 November 2008]: A nominal value for a Renewables Obligation Certificate (ROC) can be calculated by adding the buy-out price to the recycle payment from both the buy-out and late payment funds for that obligation period. The following table gives these values for each year of operation of the Renewables Obligation (RO):
| £ | |||
| Obligation Period | Buy-out price per MWh | Recycle payment per ROC for England and Wales (where 1 ROC = lMWh) | Nominal ROC value |
It should be noted that the late payment fund was not introduced until the 2005-06 obligation period.
Severn Barrage
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will publish the findings of the interim review of the Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study at the earliest opportunity. [235556]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I expect to publish the interim findings of the feasibility study in the new year, together with a recommended shortlist of options, and the proposed scope of the Strategic Environmental Assessment for Public Consultation should the decision be to continue with the study.
Tidal Power: River Severn
Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what topics are under consideration by the Severn tidal power strategic environmental assessment steering group; and if he will place in the Library the topic papers under consideration by the group. [232715]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The SEA Steering Group has been asked to consider a number of outputs from the Strategic Environmental Assessment, being carried out
by a consortium led by Parsons Brinckerhoff. These include drafts of the 16 Topic Papers listed here, and a draft SEA Scoping Report. The topic papers will be published early in the new year, subject to internal review.
Ornithology
Hydraulics and Geomorphology
Marine Ecology
Migratory and Estuarine Fish
Flood Risk and Land Drainage
Community and Socio economic
Other Sea-bed Uses
Marine Water Quality
Terrestrial and Freshwater Ecology
Landscape and Seascape
Navigation
Historic Environment
Freshwater Interfaces
Noise and Vibration
Carbon Footprint
Resources and Waste
Warm Front Scheme
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has considered the merits of allowing regional variations in grant limit levels under the Warm Front scheme to account for regional variations in the cost of work under the scheme. [238886]
Joan Ruddock: The Department is currently reviewing the existing grant maximums. As part of this process we will be considering options for grant distribution, and will look at the possibility of regional variations in grant maximum.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of grant limit levels under the Warm Front scheme. [238887]
Joan Ruddock: The Department is currently reviewing the existing grant maximums. In doing so, we shall be considering the findings and recommendations of the National Audit Office’s Value for Money study of the scheme which is due to be published early next year.
Warm Front Scheme: ICT
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he expects the new Warm Front scheme computer system to be fully operational. [238839]
Joan Ruddock: Eaga continually seek to improve its delivery of the Warm Front Scheme, and most recently, it has further automated its material supply processes. This enhancement aims to maximise effective ordering of hardware and the implementation of this change is now complete.
Waste: Renewable Energy
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 3 November 2008, Official Report, columns 211-2W, (226760), how much energy has been produced by waste plants constructed since 2006; how much is expected to be produced by those not yet completed; and which plants are operating or will operate as combined heat and power plants. [234335]
Joan Ruddock: Energy from Waste ("EfW") plants constructed since 2006 are Allington, Kent and Lakeside, Heathrow. Neither of these plants is fully commissioned.
Detailed data concerning expected energy outputs from plants not yet completed are not available. Energy values will vary according to several parameters including the technology type and its associated energetic efficiency, waste quantity and waste calorific content. Not all of these can be forecast with precision.
Energy from waste plants, with and without CHP capability, along with other non-combustion technologies are included on a list of known approved or pipeline waste projects applying for PFI credits. These projects are due for completion in the period 2011-15, subject to planning consent and the outcome of competitive procurement processes.
Based on conservative average energy yields and expected waste tonnages it has been estimated that energy outputs from these could be in the region of 17-18 million GJ per year.
There are currently four operating CHP plants in England. These are located at Sheffield, Coventry, Tyseley, and Isles of Scilly. All round four waste PFI projects where combustion is likely to be involved have been asked by DEFRA to include CHP proposals. The outline business cases for these projects are currently being assessed.
Wind Power
Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State, for Energy and Climate Change, what information his Department holds on the number of fossil fuel power stations which have closed as a direct result of being replaced by wind turbines. [225108]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: We do not hold information on this because decisions on whether plant remains operational are made by individual generators—factors such as operational costs, fuel costs, availability, electricity prices and overall supply and demand are likely to influence those decisions.
There is no direct relationship between the opening of a new power station and the closure of existing power stations, but each megawatt of electricity generated from renewable sources reduces an equal amount of generation from conventional sources.
It is Government policy to increase the deployment of renewable energy—including wind power—as part of our energy mix, in order to meet the twin challenges of climate change and security of supply. We will still need to maintain sufficient backup generation from conventional sources in order to maintain network reliability.
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