Select committee: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee
Conclusion 21
Eleventh Report - Decarbonisation of the power sector
Published 28 Apr 2023
Paragraph 104
Addressed to Department for Business and Trade
Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee Decarbonisation of the power sector All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
In response to this report, we request that the Government sets out: a) its current estimates of the total cost of delivering the Government’s 24 GW ambition; b) its latest official estimate of the total cost of Sizewell C and Hinkley Point C; Decarbonisation of the power sector 103 c) how it plans to finance its 24 GW ambition, including whether future projects will also adopt the Regulated Asset Base model; and d) the impact of the increasing costs of Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C on its plans for nuclear and how it is ensuring sufficient transparency over such costs.
From: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee, Eleventh Report - Decarbonisation of the power sector (HC 283), paragraph 104, 28 April 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 14 July 2023 (deadline 28 June 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the Committee's report and responds to each recommendation, planning annual reporting on power sector decarbonisation while setting out where it will not adopt specific proposals.
- On the call for a long-term delivery plan, the government "plans to report on its delivery, and overall plan to deliver the commitment, on an annual basis", and is strengthening its portfolio management approach.
- On a UK-wide onshore wind target, it states that setting one "would potentially undermine the flexibility needed" across the UK.
- On biomass, it has "no plans to remove support prior to 2027" for stations already supported, saying they "have a statutory right to their existing support".
- On Ofgem's duties, it is "content to amend" Ofgem's existing duty on greenhouse gases to refer specifically to the net zero targets in the Climate Change Act 2008.