Ed Miliband statement to the House on the draft National Policy Statements

According to the Transcript, “With permission, I would like to make a statement about the energy National Policy Statements and our proposals on clean coal.  In the summer, we published the Low Carbon Transition Plan, which explained how we would meet our commitments to carbon reduction for 2020 and beyond. New infrastructure is being provided for the coming years, with 20GW under construction or consented, more than that which will close by 2018.

But to meet our low carbon energy challenge, and due to the intermittency of wind, we will need significantly more generating capacity in the longer term.

Over the next 15 years to 2025, one third of that larger future generating capacity must be consented and built.

Given this challenge, the imperative of reform in the planning system is clear.

The current system is characterised by duplication with several bodies responsible for different aspects of consent, overlapping responsibilities of politicians and independent decision-makers, and delay.

Today, to guide the decision-making of the new Infrastructure Planning Commission, we are setting out for consultation six draft policy statements on energy, most importantly those for the trinity of fuels of our low carbon future: renewables, nuclear and clean fossil fuels.

We need all of them in the long-term because the challenge of the low carbon transition is so significant:

* renewables are a home-grown and plentiful source of supply, already powering two million homes in the UK
* nuclear is a proven, reliable source of low carbon energy: an important baseload in the system
* and fossil fuels, with carbon capture and storage, will enable flexible peakload response.

Last year we saw offshore wind generation increase by two thirds and onshore wind generation by one quarter.

But we need to significantly increase the rate of progress to meet our objective of 30% of our electricity coming from renewables by 2020.  The National Policy Statement on renewables covers onshore renewables over 50MW and offshore wind over 100MW. Other onshore decisions remain with local authorities.  The policy statement seeks to strike the right balance between achieving national objectives and avoiding adverse impacts on the local environment and biodiversity.

While government sets out the framework in the National Policy Statements, each application will be decided upon by the IPC.

The IPC will have to take account of regional and local plans, drawn up by local authorities.

And developers will have to ensure they have consulted locally before any application is made, with local authorities submitting Local Impact Reports.

The Infrastructure Planning Commission will make its decisions on the basis of a clear timetable of a year from the acceptance of an application to a decision.

This system is right for energy security: by meeting our commitments on renewables, we can limit the need for gas imports, holding them at 2010 levels for the rest of the decade.  And it is the right thing to do also for our environment, because there is no bigger threat to our countryside than climate change.

But even on our ambitious targets for renewables, there will be a need, on the estimates we are publishing today, for additional new non-renewable power.

We need to use all available low carbon sources.

That is why we were right last year to end the moratorium on new nuclear in this country and in response energy companies have announced intentions to build 16GW of new nuclear power.

In the spring we invited comments on the 11 sites that had been nominated for new nuclear power stations, all on or near existing nuclear sites.

I can tell the House that 10 of 11 sites have been judged as potentially suitable and included in the draft Nuclear Policy statement.

The next step will be consultation in the 10 selected sites as well as nationally.

The consultation proposes that the 11th site, Dungeness, is not included in this National Policy Statement.

This is because the Government does not believe, following advice from Natural England and others that a new nuclear power station can be built there without causing an adverse effect on the integrity of the internationally unique eco-system.

Under the Habitats Directive, we are obliged to consider alternative nuclear sites.

An independent study has suggested that three, Kingsnorth, Druridge Bay, and Owston Ferry are “worthy of further consideration”

We have concluded, however, that all of them have serious impediments and none of them is credible for deployment by the end of 2025, the period of the policy statement, nor do we believe they are necessary for our plans for new nuclear.

Therefore, we have excluded all of them from being potential sites in the draft Policy Statement

On waste management, the Government is satisfied that on the basis of the science and international experience, effective arrangements to manage and dispose of the waste from new nuclear power stations can be put in place.

In addition, today we are opening consultation on the proposed regulatory justification for two different reactor designs

New nuclear is right for energy security and climate change and will be good for jobs too, creating up to 9000 jobs to build and operate power stations at each site and helping leading companies access the international market.

As well as renewables and nuclear, the third part of our low carbon future is clean fossil fuels.

There is no solution to the problem of climate change either at home or abroad without a solution to the problem of coal: cheap and reliable, but the most polluting fuel.

Already from the European budget, 180 million euros has provisionally been offered to assist Hatfield power station fit CCS and I can confirm that we have received bids from Eon and Scottish Power for the next stage of the current CCS competition for a post-combustion power station.

Early next year, we will allocate the up to £90million set aside for the next for the bid or bids that will go forward to the detailed design and engineering stage.

Our aim is for carbon capture and storage to be ready to be deployed 100% on all new coal fired power stations by 2020.

We are determined to ensure that with the right combination of regulation and incentives we make this happen.

So I can confirm that under our new framework, there will be no new coal fired power stations without CCS.

With immediate effect, to gain development consent all new coal plant will have to show that it will demonstrate CCS from the outset on around 400 MW of total output.

Our plans are based on up to 4 projects between now and 2020 including up to two post-combustion projects and up to two pre-combustion projects.  The pre-combustion demonstration projects are expected to have 100% CCS on their coal capacity from day one.  The post-combustion projects will be expected to retrofit CCS to 100% of their capacity, within five years of 2020, enforced by the Environment Agency, with a review to confirm this by 2018.

If we conclude at that time that CCS will not be proven, we believe further regulatory measures will be required to restrict emissions from these plants, such as an emissions performance standard.

But even with the right regulation, if we leave the funding of CCS simply to private companies, it won’t happen in time.

To make CCS financially viable, our proposed Energy Bill contains powers to introduce the levy announced in the Budget by the Chancellor to support demonstration and, responding to points made in the consultation, the levy will also be available to support the move to 100% retrofit of CCS.

Taken together, these policies are the most environmentally ambitious set of coal conditions of any country in the world.

And they provide the opportunity for Britain to create thousands of jobs in carbon capture and storage throughout our country.

On coal, nuclear and renewables, the aim of our national policy statements is clear: consistent with the advice of the Committee on Climate Change, we need to be on course for the long-term goal of near-zero carbon emissions from power.

Alongside the overall policy statement and those for nuclear, renewables, fossil fuels and gas storage, we are also publishing the policy statement for electricity networks.

Together, these documents represent a framework for the future of our energy supplies.

Mr Speaker, in every area: onshore and offshore wind and other renewables, nuclear and clean fossil fuels; there will be people who wish to oppose specific planning applications.

Their voice must be heard in the process. The planning process must ensure we consent the right projects in the right sites.

But while of course we need a process that can turn down specific applications, saying ‘no’ everywhere would not be in the national interest.

As a country, we need nuclear, renewables and clean coal for our energy future.

They are necessary for security of supply, tackling climate change and the future of our economy.

That is why we are reforming the planning system and publishing our statements today.

I urge all sides of the House to unite behind these proposals.

And I commend this statement to the House.”

Source:Department of Energy and Climate Change