The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee will question Energy Minister Greg Hands and Housing Minister Christopher Pincher about the Government’s draft Energy National Policy Statements (NPS), at 10.30am on Tuesday 18th January.
Meeting details
This is the second and final evidence session of the short inquiry scrutinising the revised NPS, which the Government will use as a policy framework when determining whether to approve construction of major energy infrastructure projects such as wind farms and power stations.
The Government intends to revise five of its suite of six Energy National Policy Statements, which relate to fossil fuels, renewable energy, oil and gas supply and storage, and electricity networks. The Government is not reviewing its NPS on nuclear energy.
The cross-party Committee of MPs is likely to ask witnesses about how the new NPS will help the Government in reaching its ambition to reach Net Zero by 2050, and to what extent they align with the stated aims of the Energy White Paper.
Committee members may also question whether the NPS will strike the right balance between safeguarding natural environments, considering the views of local communities and the need to quickly build and improve infrastructure.
Other issues the Committee may raise are whether the NPS will include references to hydrogen-based energy or carbon capture technology.