Tag: Lord Berkeley

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-05-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the cash value of the contract with the Cross London Trains consortium to provide rolling stock for Thameslink; and what will be the annual charge at 2014 prices when the full fleet is in service.

Baroness Kramer

The Thameslink Rolling Stock Project contracts comprise the supply, finance and subsequent maintenance (including the provision of depots) of the fleet of 1140 carriages. The Thameslink Rolling Stock Project contracts have an aggregate net present value of approximately £2.8 billion in 2014 prices and a nominal value of approximately £5.7 billion, in each case to the end of the 20 year commitment period relating to the use of the trains by the Secretary of State for Transport.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-05-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government in respect of which vessels engaged on domestic passenger routes in the United Kingdom the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has notified the European Commission of regulatory exemptions and equivalencies to Directive 2008/45/EC used by the MCA to issue EU Passenger Ship Safety Certificates from 2012; and whether there are any vessels operating for which notification has not taken place.

Baroness Kramer

Her Majesty’s Government has notified the European Commission of a regulatory equivalence to Directive 2009/45/EC in respect of the MV SCILLONIAN III. No other vessels operating on domestic passenger routes in the United Kingdom require exemptions or equivalencies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-06-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the first Contracts for Difference auction to take place; when they expect the Offtaker of Last Resort to be operational; whether those dates have changed from the dates given to Parliament during the passage of the Energy Act 2013; and if so, why.

Baroness Verma

The policy design of the Offtaker of Last Resort (OLR) is at an advanced stage, and the detail of the proposals has been recently consulted on. We are on track to deliver the final policy and introduce enabling regulations ahead of first allocation of Contracts for Difference (CfD) expected in October 2014, with regulations on schedule to be in place when the first CfDs are signed towards the end of 2014 or in early 2015. Consequently, CfD applicants will have a high degree of clarity about the arrangements for OLR, in advance of the first auctions. This is consistent with the commitments about the timing of the OLR given to Parliament during the passage of the Energy Act 2013.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-06-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the different financing structures of independent generators as compared to the large vertically integrated utilities in the development of the proposal to introduce Contracts for Difference auctioning; and whether any concerns have been raised by independent generators as to their competitive position in the event that Contracts for Difference auctioning is introduced before the Offtaker of Last Resort is operational.

Baroness Verma

My officials have worked closely with developers and financial institutions in working up the Offtaker of Last Resort (OLR) proposals in order to meet the needs of independent renewable generators. The policy design is at an advanced stage, and the detail of the proposals has been recently consulted on. We are on track to deliver the final policy and introduce enabling regulations ahead of first allocation of Contracts for Difference (CfD) applicants will have a high degree of clarity about the arrangements for OLR, in advance of the first auctions.

The move to competitive allocation of CfDs has been a long-standing feature of Electricity Market Reform. In early 2014, Government consulted on proposals to move straight to competitive allocation for some technologies, during which a number of independent renewable generators raised concerns that they had less certainty of their costs than Vertically Integrated Utilities and weretherefore faced with a higher financial risk that might undermine their ability to win a CfD through a competitive process. In the Government’s response, we set out our expectation that the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) market will evolve such that PPAs could be signed on a conditional basis, providing greater cost certainty for independent renewable generators.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-06-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the consultation on the proposal to introduce Contracts forDifference auctioning was published; when the European Commission adopted the final state aid guidelines for environmental protection and energy for 2014–2020; and when the Government’s response to the consultation was published.

Baroness Verma

The move to competitive allocation of Contracts for Difference has been a long-standing feature of Electricity Market Reform. In early 2014, the Government consulted on proposals to move straight to competitive allocation for some technologies. This consultation ran from 16 January 2014 to 12 February 2014; the Government’s response was published on 13 May 2014.

EU Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy 2014-2020 were adopted in principle on 9 April 2014. Prior to that adoption, the Commission worked with member states on the development of the guidelines, including draft versions and receiving comments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-06-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Kramer on 13 May (WA 492), what is the annual charge used to calculate the net present value of £2.7 billion for the contract with Agility Trains East covering the provision of Intercity Express trains for the East Coast Main Line; and how many diagrammed trains and diagrammed vehicles are to be provided under the contract.

Baroness Kramer

The net present value of the East Coast Main Line fleet is £2.7bn in 2009 prices. This is for a fleet of 414 diagrammed vehicles over 54 diagrammed trains. The total Set Availability Payment for the full East Coast fleet in 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021 (the first year of full fleet operation) is £324.6m in nominal 2020 prices.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Berkeley on 2014-06-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Kramer on 13 May (WA 492), what is their latest estimate of the net presentvalue (NPV) of the contract with Agility Trains West covering the provision of Intercity Express trains for the Great Western; what is the annual charge used to calculate the NPV; and how many diagrammed trains and diagrammed vehicles are to be covered.

Baroness Kramer

The net present value of the Great Western fleet is £3.0bn in 2009 prices. This is for a fleet of 322 diagrammed vehicles over 50 diagrammed trains. The total Set Availability Payment for the full Great Western fleet in 1 April 2019 – 31 March 2020 (the first year of full fleet operation) is £333.7m in nominal 2019 prices.