Further written evidence reported to the House
Energy Bill
10:40 am
Paddy Tipping (Sherwood, Labour)
I would like to return to the discussion you were having with Steve Webb about nuclear. The Government have made it very clear that the funding for new nuclear will come from the private sector. The private sector will have to invest big time to achieve this, and will need some confidence about financial return. The key to that is the pricing of carbon, and a carbon market. The carbon market is still in its infancy. What work have you done to assure potential investors that, when the day comes, the EU emissions trading scheme really is going to have a high and sustainable price of carbon sufficient to bring new investment? Secondly, what about that curious phrase in the nuclear White Paper, which seems to suggest that if there is not an EU scheme, there could be some possible underwriting here in the UK?