11:00 Derek Twigg (Labour)

That this House has considered renewable energy in the East of England.

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Twigg. The transition to a zero-carbon economy in which the UK’s energy supply is in future sourced from low-carbon and renewable sources, puts the east of England right in the vanguard of the UK’s energy system. Last year, East Anglia’s renewable and low-carbon energy portfolio powered the equivalent of 32% of UK homes. The Opergy Group of energy advisers estimates that by 2035 that figure could rise to 90%. That dramatic transformation— I do not think it wrong to describe it is a revolution—presents our region with a once in a generation opportunity to drive inward investment, create exciting and enduring careers, and play a major role in delivering the UK’s net zero goals.

The southern North sea currently hosts 37% of the UK offshore wind portfolio, with over 5 GW of capacity. That is due to expand to 15 GW, taking into account projects that are already in the pipeline, but nothing else is planned for after those projects have been delivered. If nothing is done, investment off the East Anglia coast could fall off a cliff edge after 2032. That is a disincentive to continued investment. To address the problem, the East of England Energy Group, Opergy, Cefas, the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and other partners are developing proposals with the Crown Estate that involve innovative proposals for seabed and marine habitat restoration integrated with subsea energy storage, which, importantly, do not require new grid connections. When they come forward, I urge my right hon. Friend the Minister to give them full consideration.

The UK’s hydrogen strategy is still in its early stages and is very much focused on industrial clusters. It must be structured in such a way that it can evolve to kickstart investment across more dispersed regions like East Anglia, where there is enormous potential for the industry and where we have three anchor assets. First, there is the Bacton gas terminal in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for North Norfolk (Duncan Baker), which can be a piece of strategic national infrastructure for transporting hydrogen around the UK. Secondly, we have Freeport East at Felixstowe and Harwich, which can play a major role in decarbonising the international freight logistics and transport sectors. Thirdly, there is the region’s primary industry, agriculture, in which hydrogen can serve three purposes: as fuel for tractors and combines; for producing fertiliser; and for heating and air-conditioning in the chicken-rearing units that are found across the region. To enable the hydrogen sector to grow, my sense is that we do need the hydrogen levy, as well as a contracts for difference mechanism for hydrogen.

In conclusion, the energy transition presents the east of England with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to spread economic growth and prosperity right across the region, reaching areas that have felt overlooked and forgotten for too long. A lot of people are working incredibly hard locally to make the most of the opportunity, but as matters stand, I fear we will not realise its full potential. To do so, we need to pursue a strategic approach. Government must provide the necessary resources and work with local government and business to set up a delivery taskforce. If we do that properly, we can lay down a global exemplar of how to carry out the net zero transition, which will not only benefit East Anglian people, but can be replicated across the UK and around the world.

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11:16 Graham Stuart (Conservative)

In the limited time that I have left, I will try to briefly review some of the points that my hon. Friend made and consider whether I can make any reasonable response to them. He mentioned the revolution, and that is what is going on; indeed, we need to tell the story to the nation about how we are rewiring this country. If people look around even the most beautiful landscapes, they will see things that they usually do not notice because they are just so used to them—major pieces of industrial infrastructure that were required to create the foundations for the wealthy and successful country that we are. Nevertheless, we will need to rewire things. Even with the best will in the world and strategic planning, co-ordination and minimisation of impacts, as well as a real focus on good design principles, there will be impacts, and we need to let people know that delivering net zero will require them.

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