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2 Apr 2009 : Column 1358W—continued
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what increase in costs to the national grid would result from the connection to the grid of a new electricity generation unit of (a) 1600 MW and (b) 1800 MW. [266780]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: National grid advise that connecting larger units of up to 1800 MW to the grid would create additional costs, principally, because national grid would need to carry more reserve capacity than currently in the event of loss of generation from one of those units.
National grid has recently published a consultation on this issue and estimates that the additional costs of increasing the reserve to allow for a potential loss of power in-feed in excess of the current level of 1320 MW would be approximately £95 million per annum for a generation unit of 1600 MW and £160 million per annum for a generation unit of 1800 MW. Any changes to current arrangements are subject to Ofgem approval. Other costs of connecting individual power stations to the grid are determined by national grid on a case-by-case basis, and depend on a wide range of factors including location, system capacity, voltage and land availability.
Energy Saving Trust
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what arrangements have been made for (a) the Energy Saving Trust and (b) the Carbon Trust to account to Parliament for their (i) policy and (ii) expenditure. [256854]
Joan Ruddock: The Energy Saving Trust and the Carbon Trust are both private companies limited by guarantee. They both receive funding from Government Departments and the devolved Administrations either in the form of contractual arrangements or as a grant offer. These grants and contracts are offered to the trusts to support their activities, which contribute to the Government’s policy objectives on climate change, accelerating the move to a low carbon economy, resource efficiency and fuel poverty. The trusts’ activities form an important element of the Government’s Climate Change Programme. The relevant Government funders are accountable to Parliament for their spending in the normal way.
The trusts are both subject to annual reports by independent auditors and have their activities evaluated as part of independent reviews, including, for the Carbon Trust, a National Audit Office review and subsequent Public Accounts Committee hearing and report in 2007-08.
Energy: Conservation
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) what estimate he has made of the proportion of visits by assessors to homes of old age pensioners, under the energy conservation and insulation package announced on 11 September 2008, whose visit has not resulted in insulation of lofts, walls or lagging of pipes; and whether assessors are paid for the time taken and travel costs that do not result in energy conservation action; [253328]
(2) what requirement has been placed on companies contracted to deliver the package on home cavity wall and loft insulation measures in pensioner households, as announced on 11 September 2008, to (a) pay assessors for each visit made to pensioner or other households to which they have been sent, notwithstanding whether an energy conservation package is consequently installed and (b) to use the assessor visits to offer other energy services provided by the contractor. [253329]
Joan Ruddock: The package of home energy efficiency measures announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in September last year is delivered principally through two Government schemes; the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) and Warm Front.
CERT is a market-based mechanism that operates through an obligation on energy suppliers. The Government are not party to the contractual arrangements between suppliers and their delivery partners, including assessors, as this is an internal commercial matter for them.
None of the additional funding granted to the Warm Front Scheme in the September 2008 announcement has been or will be used to pay for assessments. Eaga plc, the Warm Front Scheme Manager, does not offer any other energy services to the household when assessing a property.
On 11 September my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister also announced a new Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP). The Government are currently consulting on CESP proposals.
Fossil Fuels
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the levels of investment by UK-based companies in (a) oil sands and shale oil, (b) conventional oil projects, (c) gas projects and (d) coal-fired power stations in the last five years. [265904]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department does not make estimates of the levels of investment in these categories whether by UK-based companies or in aggregate. We do publish annually, in UK Energy Sector Indicators, data from the Office for National Statistics on total investment by the UK (upstream) oil and gas industry, the UK (downstream) gas industry and the UK electricity industry. UK Energy Sector Indicators 2008 is available online at:
The data are presented, respectively, in charts E1.8, E1.14 and E1.11 and the data are included in the background indicators dataset spreadsheet at:
Fuel Poverty
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much of the proposed £1 billion scheme to help fuel-poor individuals has been made available; and how much is available for claims for insulation installations under the Warm Front scheme for over 60 year-olds. [252896]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 29 January 2009]: On 11 September 2008, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced the launch of a £l billion package of measures to help families permanently cut their energy bills, known as the Home Energy Saving Programme. This included a 20 per cent. increase in the Carbon Emission Reduction Target (CERT) estimated to be worth around £560 million (an obligation on energy suppliers to install energy efficiency measures in households), £350 million for the new Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP), and £90 million of additional Government funding, providing increased funding for the Warm Front Scheme and for Cold Weather Payments.
Energy suppliers’ targets under CERT are set in terms of household carbon savings rather than spending. Ofgem, the Scheme Administrator, does not collect data on energy supplier spend. Based on the costs of the measures promoted by suppliers we estimate that the overall costs to suppliers of delivering their obligations will exceed £3 billion over the period 2008-11. This includes an additional £560 million suppliers are expected to spend as a result of the increased CERT target announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in September.
The CESP consultation was launched on 12 February alongside the Heat and Energy Saving Strategy and CERT consultations.
An estimated 5.8 million Cold Weather Payments worth £145 million have been made for Great Britain this winter based on the temperature criterion having been met up to 26 January 2009.
From 1 October 2008 to 11 January 2009 the Warm Front Scheme spent approximately £50 million of the extra £74 million added to the budget for 2008-09 and 2009-10, with the residual £24 million allocated to the second of these years.
Warm Front does not specifically designate funding for insulation measures, neither does it designate different levels of funding to different qualifying demographics. Pensioners in receipt of qualifying benefits are allocated a grant (either £2,700, or £4,000 where an oil measure is requested) that can be used for a range of energy efficiency measures, which may include insulation.
Fuel Poverty: Chelmsford
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many fuel-poor households there were in West Chelmsford constituency in each of the last five years. [268403]
Joan Ruddock: The most recent year for which estimates of fuel poverty are available at constituency level is 2003. The data for fuel poverty levels for 2003 come from the Fuel Poverty Indicator dataset, available online at
In 2003, there were around 2,300 households in the constituency of West Chelmsford living in fuel poverty. Fuel poverty has increased substantially in recent years due to high fuel prices but figures are not available for more recent years at constituency level.
Government Communication Network
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many staff in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies (i) are classified as Government communicators and (ii) have access to the Government Communication Network. [266678]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 23 March 2009, Official Report, columns 172-73W.
Insulation: Tendring
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what funding for loft and cavity wall insulation for (a) priority groups and (b) older people will be made available to Tendring residents. [253977]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 5 February 2009]: Warm Front is the Government’s main scheme for tackling fuel poverty in the private sector in England for vulnerable householders. It is administered and managed by eaga plc on behalf of the Government. The scheme provides grants for specified heating and insulation measures up to £2,700 in value (£4,000 where the work includes installation of an oil fired central heating system).
To be eligible for the scheme the applicant or their spouse must be a homeowner or tenant in the private sector and in receipt of a qualifying disability or income related benefit, income-based jobseeker’s allowance or working tax credit, child tax credit, disability living allowance, pension credit, council tax benefit or housing benefit (both including a disability element).
All eligible Warm Front applicants will receive a survey of their property (which includes energy efficiency advice) and two energy efficient light bulbs. Warm Front can also provide a package of insulation and heating measures tailored to each property, drawn from the following measures listed:
Loft insulation
Draught proofing
Cavity-wall insulation
Hot-water-tank insulation
Funding is also available in Great Britain from the big six energy suppliers under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT). CERT places an obligation on the suppliers to meet targets by encouraging households to take-up energy efficiency measures. It is at suppliers’ discretion how they meet their targets, but they will typically promote subsidised offers for a range of measures,
including loft and cavity wall insulation and high-efficiency lights and appliances. Suppliers must focus at least 40 per cent. of their CERT activity on a priority group of vulnerable and low-income households, which includes those over 70.
The level of subsidy varies over time and from supplier to supplier, but all currently offer around a 50 per cent. discount on loft insulation (where less than 60 mm is in place) and cavity wall insulation. For those in the priority group, these measures are often available free of charge, subject to a survey of the property.
Data are not currently available on the geographical distribution of measures under CERT. For Great Britain as a whole, the scheme led to an estimated supplier investment of almost £2 billion between 2002 and 2008, leading to some 5 million households benefiting from insulation measures. We estimate that the current three-year phase of the obligation will lever over £3 billion of supplier investment by 2011, benefiting a further 5 million households with significant energy saving measures.
Natural Gas
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he expects the national policy statement on gas storage infrastructure (a) to be published and (b) to become operational in respect of new projects. [266863]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 26 March 2009]: The Department of Energy and Climate Change currently expects the national policy statement (NPS) on gas storage infrastructure to be published for consultation in the summer. The NPS is currently expected to be designated as part of the suite of Energy Infrastructure NPSs to become operational in 2010.
Nuclear Power: Research
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much the Government spent on nuclear fusion research (a) in the UK and (b) internationally in each of the last five years. [266682]
Mr. Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
The Government provide support for nuclear fusion research in the UK through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
UK funding, including the Nuclear Contract of Association, is as follows:
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