Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Green Technologies: Private Investment

Tuesday 27 February 2024 · 6 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 4 Not answered 0

Key points

  • UK has secured 60 billion in green technology investment in 2023.
  • Government is working to accelerate grid connections for battery storage projects.
  • UK attracts investment through schemes like contracts for difference and the green industries growth accelerator.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Jack Brereton Con
Economy Climate Business & Trade
Context

The UK is seeking to increase private sector investment in green technologies.

Question

What steps she is taking to help increase private sector investment in green technologies?

Answer from Claire Coutinho

The UK has made tremendous progress securing £60 billion of investment in 2023, with a total of £300 billion since 2010. New policies and deals have been signed post September, leading to plans for around £24 billion of new investment in low-carbon sectors.

Partly answered
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Q2 Andrew Jones Con
Energy
Context

Harmony Energy in Knaresborough has opened Europe's largest battery farm, but faces connectivity challenges.

Question

I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. Harmony Energy based in Knaresborough opened Europe's largest battery farm in Yorkshire in 2022. It has raised the issue of connectivity challenges being a blockage to investment, so I welcome the connections action plan, which aims to cut connection times by up to 90%. Battery farms are critical for energy retention and storage, and are particularly helpful for renewables, so may I ask my right hon. Friend for an update on how the plan is being implemented?

Answer from Claire Coutinho

We have set out radical reforms to the grid and are working with Ofgem and network companies to accelerate important network connections. Network companies offer earlier connection dates for battery storage and generation projects; 10 GW of battery storage projects already have four-year earlier transmission network connection dates than originally agreed.

Answered
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Q3 Jack Brereton Con
Climate Energy Business & Trade
Context

The UK's ceramics sector has invested in energy efficiency but faces risks of carbon leakage due to stringent net zero targets.

Question

The UK's ceramics sector has invested heavily in energy efficiency technologies, and it is committed to going further, but many of the alternative green technologies are not yet viable, and there are serious risks that too stringent net zero targets will result in carbon leakage, and in offshoring an industry and skilled jobs to countries that have a far worse environmental record. Will my right hon. Friend look seriously at exempting the ceramics sector from the emissions trading scheme, to give the sector the breathing space that it needs to invest?

Answer from Claire Coutinho

I commend my hon. Friend's commitment and encourage his constituency's ceramics sector to participate in the consultation on free allocation policy, open for safeguarding sectors at risk of carbon leakage.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific request was not addressed directly; instead, a general encouragement to engage with the consultation process was given.

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Q4 Caroline Lucas Green
Economy Climate
Context

A report notes that a lack of public investment and policy stability is hindering private sector investment in green technologies.

Question

A new report from the Green Finance Institute and the IPPR notes that a lack of public investment and strategy is holding back progress on unlocking private investment, and that the chopping and changing of policy pathways has damaged investor confidence. The Secretary of State likes to say that she has a clear strategy, so will she tell investors what it is? Will she call on the Chancellor to deliver the scale of public investment we urgently need to restore investor confidence and lift the UK off the bottom of the G7 league table for private investment?

Answer from Claire Coutinho

The UK was the first in the G20 to halve emissions since 1990, with £60 billion of low-carbon private and public investment in 2023. The UK attracts investment through schemes like contracts for difference, capital allowances reforms, and the green industries growth accelerator.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask about strategy and advocating for large-scale public investment was not directly addressed; instead, existing achievements were highlighted.

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Q5 Kirsten Oswald SNP
Climate Scotland Business & Trade
Context

The Scottish Government has announced a £24.5 million public investment in a new cable factory, attracting further private investment.

Question

Last week, the Scottish Government announced £24.5 million of public investment in a new cable factory, which will attract a further £350 million of inward investment. Does the Secretary of State agree that the best way to increase private investment is for the Government to invest at least £28 billion annually?

Answer from Claire Coutinho

Our record on net zero investment is strong; CBI reported that UK's net zero sectors grew by 9% last year. Plans for further investment include grid connections, supply chain support through the Gigafund, and capital allowance reform.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask about committing to invest at least £28 billion annually was not directly addressed; instead, existing achievements were highlighted.

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Q6 Sarah Jones Lab Croydon West
Economy Climate Business & Trade
Context

The National Infrastructure Commission and CBI report highlight the need for urgency in green investment plans.

Question

This Government are locked in a doom loop of inertia, and everyone is talking about it. Just this week, the National Infrastructure Commission said that the Government are taking too long, need to move faster, and that greater urgency is required. The CBI report that the Secretary of State mentioned says that “strong future growth from green businesses is being put at risk”. Labour's national wealth fund will crowd in private investment and create thousands of good jobs for plumbers, engineers, electricians and welders. Is blowing our advantage and losing the race for the industries of the future part of the Government's plan, or do they just not have one?

Answer from Claire Coutinho

I thank the hon. Lady for her question and point out that Labour has flip-flopped on investment plans. We delivered the second highest cumulative amount of recorded low-carbon investment across Europe over the past five years.

How: Attacking Opposition

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