Energy Bill

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 11— Electricity from hydro-microgeneration ‘(1) The Secretary of State shall, within one year of the passing of this Act, make regulations with the purpose of encouraging renewable energy generation by means of hydro-microgeneration. (2) In this section— ““hydro-microgeneration”” means the generation of electricity by means of a hydro-turbine of less than 100kW capacity; ““microgeneration plant”” has the same meaning given in section 7(6) of the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006 (c. 19). (3) Regulations under this section may prescribe— (a) the treatment of hydro-microgeneration under sections 32 to 32M of the Electricity Act 1989 (c. 29); (b) licensing for the use of water in a water-course for the purpose of hydro-microgeneration; (c) that any requirement for abstraction, transfer or impoundment licences under the (i) Water Resources Act 1991 (c. 57), (ii) Environment Act 1995 (c. 25), or (iii) Water Act 2003 (c. 37) is repealed in respect of a hydro-microgeneration plant, provided that no water is removed from the watercourse in the process of generation; (d) that any requirement to ensure the safety and welfare of fish in a watercourse on which a hydro-microgeneration plant is situated is proportional to the risk of detriment to the safety and welfare of fish. (4) Any reference to the generation of electricity under this or any other act which applies to hydro-microgeneration shall apply as though the reference was to the generation of electricity by means of any hydro-turbine of less than 100kW capacity. (5) Regulations under this section shall not be made unless a draft of the statutory instrument containing them has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.’. New clause 17— Promotion of renewable energy ‘In section 7(2) of the Sustainable Energy Act 2003 (c. 30), for ““60,000,000”” substitute ““250,000,000””.’. New clause 20— Access for renewable energy to the electricity and gas grids ‘(1) After section 3A of the 1989 Electricity Act (c.29) there is inserted— ““3B Access for renewable energy to the electricity networks (1) In carrying out their respective functions, the Secretary of State and the Authority shall ensure that— (a) transmission system operators and distribution system operators guarantee the transmission and distribution of electricity produced from renewable energy sources, without prejudice to the maintenance of the reliability and safety of the grid; (b) transmission system operators and distribution system operators provide for priority access to the grid system for electricity produced from renewable energy sources; (c) when dispatching electricity generating installations, transmission system operators shall give priority to generating installations using renewable energy sources insofar as the security of the national electricity system permits; (d) transmission system operators and distribution system operators are required to set up and publish their standard rules relating to the bearing and sharing of costs of technical adaptations, including grid connections and grid reinforcements, which are necessary in order to integrate new producers feeding electricity produced from renewable energy sources into the interconnected grid, and that such rules— (i) shall be based on objective, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria taking particular account of all the costs and benefits associated with the connection of these producers to the grid and of the particular circumstances of producers located in peripheral regions and in regions of low population density, (ii) may provide for different types of connection, and (iii) shall provide for the sharing of costs to be enforced by a mechanism based on objective, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria taking into account the benefits which initially and subsequently connected producers as well as transmission system operators and distribution system operators derive from connections; (e) transmission system operators and distribution system operators are required to provide any new producer wishing to be connected to the system with a comprehensive and detailed estimate of the costs associated with the connection; (f) the charging of transmission and distribution fees does not discriminate against electricity from renewable energy sources, including in particular electricity from renewable energy sources produced in peripheral regions, such as island regions, and in regions of low population density; (g) fees charged by transmission system operators and distribution system operators for the transmission and distribution of electricity from plants using renewable energy sources reflect realisable cost benefits resulting from the plant’s connection to the network. (2) The Secretary of State shall review and take the necessary measures to improve the frameworks and rules for bearing and sharing of costs referred to in paragraph (d) by 30th June 2011 at the latest, and every two years thereafter, in order to ensure the integration of new producers. (2) After section 4AA of the Gas Act 1986 (c.44) there is inserted— ““4AB Access for renewable gas to the gas networks (1) In carrying out their respective functions, the Secretary of State and the Authority shall ensure that— (a) gas network operators guarantee the transport of gas produced from renewable energy sources, without prejudice to the maintenance of the reliability and safety of the gas networks; (b) gas network operators provide for priority access to the gas networks system for gas produced from renewable energy sources; (c) when dispatching gas, network operators shall give priority to renewable energy sources insofar as the security of the national gas system permits; (d) gas network operators are required to set up and publish their standard rules relating to the bearing and sharing of costs of technical adaptations, such as gas network connections and gas network upgrades, which are necessary in order to integrate new producers feeding gas produced from renewable energy sources in to the interconnected gas networks, and that such rules— (i) shall be based on objective, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria taking particular account of all the costs and benefits associated with the connection of these producers to the gas networks and of the particular circumstances of producers located in peripheral regions and in regions of low population density, (ii) may provide for different types of connection, and (iii) shall provide for the sharing of costs to be enforced by a mechanism based on objective, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria taking into account the benefits which initially and subsequently connected producers as well as gas network operators derive from the connections; (e) gas network operators are required to provide any new producer wishing to be connected to the system with a comprehensive and detailed estimate of the costs associated with the connection; (f) the charging of transport fees does not discriminate against gas from renewable energy sources, including in particular gas from renewable energy sources produced in peripheral regions, such as island regions, and in regions of low population density; and (g) fees charged by gas network operators for the transport of gas from plants using renewable energy sources reflect realisable cost benefits resulting from the plant’s connection to the network. (2) The Secretary of State shall review and take the necessary measures to improve the frameworks and rules for bearing and sharing of costs referred to in paragraph (d) by 30th June 2011 at the latest, and every two years thereafter, in order to ensure the integration of new producers.””’. New clause 21— Adjustment of transmission charges ‘(1) Section 185 of the Energy Act 2004 (c. 20) (Adjustment of transmission charges) is amended as follows. (2) In subsection (1)(a) for first ‘a’ substitute ‘any’. (3) Omit subsections (10), (11) and (12).’. Amendment No. 1, in clause 36, page 24, line 44, leave out subsections (4) and (5). Amendment No. 65, page 69, line 16, leave out clause 78.