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Energy Bill [HL]

My Lords, this amendment is slightly different from the one I put down in Committee as it affects geothermal energy. I thank many sides of the House for supporting that. The change that I have made to this amendment is that I have not included time constraints, not because they are not important, they are, but because when I had to submit this amendment in time for Report, it was not clear from the industry or from the department whether it is possible to implement geothermal licensing through secondary legislation or whether it requires primary legislation. Since that time, the industry, I and a Member of the other House met the other Minister, my honourable friend Greg Barker, to go through this. I welcome the fact that a working party has been set up, which probably met for the first time today, to start finding a way forward to make this move. The industry’s advice is that licensing probably requires primary legislation rather than empowerment through this Bill to allow secondary legislation by the Minister. That has rather stymied my wish to press this matter forward strongly and makes the situation rather difficult. I recognise the Government’s wish to push ahead with this, but I stress to the Minister again that geothermal power can make not just a long-term but also a medium-term significant contribution to renewable energy in this country. It is well worth putting the investment in the rules and regulations to allow this industry to move ahead by giving investors the certainty that they need to explore this energy source. This is not about just the long-term future; it is about the medium term. It is not just around a technology that may or may not work; it already works in and is receiving major investment in other parts of the world. My request to the Government and the Minister is that they keep the momentum that they have at the moment; that they continue to explore the short-term solutions, which might be through environmental permitting methods; and, if that is not sufficient to satisfy investors, that they take the decision to move forward with licensing. Perhaps there is a way in which the industry can help to make that happen with the Government and we can have the benefit in the medium term, not just the long term, of a renewable energy that is consistent in its performance and is not intermittent. That would be a great benefit to this country in helping us not fall way behind not just Australia and the United States but also other European countries that are already starting to benefit. There are investors who want to invest. Two deep geothermal plants already have planning permission. Last week, we heard the great news that in the north-east heat from medium-level geothermal sources is being used already, which is starting to contribute to reducing our carbon footprint through heating. I want to see it contribute to both heating and electricity generation, and I hope that the Government will stick to this and move with the industry to make this happen in the quickest way that we can. But I accept that probably this will have to be through primary legislation rather than secondary.