here - United Kingdom Parliament

919 National Policy Statements 1 DECEMBER 2010 National Policy Statements 920
[Dr Whitehead]
for plants that are not yet completed and that will be
needed for a decentralised and decarbonised future
energy supply.
I do not have time to go into the matter of electricity
storage, but I hope that the NPSs will pay some attention
to that question. It is not true that electricity cannot be
stored, as NPS EN-1 says. It can be stored and storage
must be a future part of our increased capacity, as the
Minister mentioned in the Select Committee yesterday.
I hope that the Minister will reflect on that.
6.21 pm
Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con): Thank you,
Mr Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to contribute to
this stimulating debate, which is fundamentally focused
on the process of establishing the Government’s important
plan for the greatest increase in energy capacity and
generation that we will see in our lifetimes. It is required,
of course, to avoid a situation such as the one described
by the line, “The lights are going out all over Europe; we
may not see them lit again in our lifetimes.” That phrase
was used by Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign
Secretary at the beginning of the first world war, as a
metaphor for the catastrophe that was enveloping our
continent, but by 2014 it could be the reality of our
energy situation.
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Minister on leading
us towards a plan and through a process that will attract
the enormous new investment of some £200 billion that
is required to replace a third of all power stations in the
next 10 years. I want to touch briefly on one aspect of it,
which is the nuclear energy part. I am conscious that the
shadow Minister said earlier that our overall energy
situation was in “darn good shape” and “ready to go”.
If new nuclear power stations had been under starter’s
orders for 13 years, there must have been a terrible
problem with the starter’s pistol.
Today those plans are closer to becoming reality, not
least because of the contribution made by EDF and its
plan for a new nuclear power station. It is worth reminding
Members that EDF took over the eight existing nuclear
power stations previously operated by British Energy
from Barnwood in my constituency. It is also worth
noting EDF’s considerable investment, which will benefit
people all over this country, of £20 billion towards the
next new power station. That is almost twice EDF’s
initial investment in buying British Energy.
With the new generation of nuclear power stations
come one or two other things I want to make the House
aware of. First, the Barnwood nuclear power academy
is becoming the training academy for nuclear engineers
not just from this country but from all over Europe, and
it brings thousands of young engineers to learn their
trade in the centre of England. It is also running the
country’s leading apprenticeship scheme, with some
400 apprentices studying on a four-year course. I am
optimistic that before the Gloucestershire apprenticeship
fair in February of next year, the academy will offer
more apprenticeships in finance and human resources
as well as in the core business of engineering on the
operations side. Nuclear power is critical to the future
of our energy supply and to employment opportunities
in the energy sector—EDF will create some 2,000 jobs
over the next 10 years. It is also important in terms of
employment opportunities for our young through an
ever-expanding apprenticeship scheme. That illustrates
how important it is, first, to attract foreign investment
to Britain; and secondly, to set up a framework and a
robust plan so investors have the confidence to fulfil
their part in the important new energy capabilities that
the Minister is shaping us towards.
I conclude by saying that I hugely look forward to
hosting a visit by the Minister to Barnwood soon to see
at first hand the enthusiasm in my constituency both for
tackling the energy shortages in our country and for
building new nuclear power stations. Overall, the national
policy statements will contribute hugely to having a
more robust process, and I will certainly vote in favour
of them this evening.
6.26 pm
Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/
Co-op): I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in
this debate. I served for a short time on the Energy and
Climate Change Committee before being moved on to
other things.
As the Minister and the shadow Minister, my hon.
Friend the Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies),
made clear in their opening remarks, the policy statements
are important, and it is crucial that we have the opportunity
to debate them—I hope that we will have more opportunity
to debate them than the short time that is available this
evening. Bearing in mind that several Government Members
want to speak, I will try to curtail my remarks to less
than seven minutes, if possible.
As the Minister has said, policy statements are crucial
to energy security, our capacity and our ageing plant,
which needs to be replaced. As the hon. Member for
Gloucester (Richard Graham) said, they are crucial to
investment, which can create and sustain jobs in the
industry and the supply chain—I know that many Members
on both sides of the House have a definite interest in
that.
I will not repeat the issues with Sheffield Forgemasters,
other than to say that it is a crying shame that opportunities
to develop, nurture and create jobs and skills will be
enjoyed by other parts of the world, when we are
focused on trying—in the words of the Prime Minister—to
“rebalance the economy”.
I want to touch on a couple of issues, to which I hope
the Minister will respond. Many Members are more
than aware of the huge frustration at the time it takes to
move an infrastructure project from planning to building
and to being ready for use—the clock is, as we all know,
ticking. The previous Government looked to address
that frustration through the Infrastructure Planning
Commission. There are concerns that by choosing a
different route—by making the IPC part of the Planning
Inspectorate—the Government might be subjecting the
certainty that investors need to further delays. In moving
to that model, I hope that some reassurance will be
given that delays will not result in investment decisions
not being taken or in investment being taken elsewhere.
That is absolutely crucial.
The Minister knows from our discussions that I
welcome the Government’s commitment to carbon capture
and storage and to the pilot project at Longannet. That
is the right project, given the speed with which existing
coal technology can be retrofitted and be up and running.