House of Commons · Westminster Hall
06 May 2025 · 4 other contributors · 3,548 words
Opened by Tom Collins Lab Worcester
Responding minister: Michael Shanks
Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.
Tom Collins raised concerns about energy resilience in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.
Key points
Key requests to Government
He asked for consideration on how to ensure resilience against market-induced price instability and commercial failures, while also incorporating core features that function primarily in the public interest.
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.
Opened the debate
Tom Collins expressed concerns about the volatility and uncertainty of future energy conditions, highlighting the need for a robust electricity grid that can accommodate dispersed and unpredictable renewable generation. He emphasized the importance of storage in the new energy system and raised questions about digital communications potential single points of failure.
Jim Shannon commended Tom Collins for bringing forward the debate on energy resilience and highlighted the importance of harnessing reliable tidal energy to meet renewable targets in Northern Ireland. The hon. Member for Strangford raised the issues of energy in Northern Ireland, which are devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive.
Liam Conlon discussed the installation of solar panels at Bethlem Royal hospital, securing a £725,000 grant from the Government to improve energy resilience for essential services.
Suggests that having a clean energy super cluster with offshore wind, carbon capture, and hydrogen storage in one place can boost Britain’s energy resilience and infrastructure development.
My hon. Friend the Member for Worcester discussed the journey to net zero and resilience as the system decarbonises, mentioning hydrogen's role and opportunities.
Government Response
Michael ShanksThe Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Acknowledges the importance of maintaining UK's energy resilience through diversification, highlighting GB's reliable supply from multiple sources. Emphasises the role of storage as a flexibility tool in balancing supply and demand. Ofgem sets annual targets on customer interruptions and minutes lost. The Minister discussed the impact of storms like Storm Arwen and highlighted resilience measures, hydrogen's role in energy resilience, learning from incidents, interdependencies within systems, cross-Government work to enhance resilience, storage assets for clean power, and the Government's mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower.