Gas and EU energy investment experts appear before Lords
The Lords Agriculture, Fisheries, Environment and Energy EU Sub-Committee will be speaking to experts from the gas and energy investment sectors on Wednesday 12 December in the seventh evidence session of their inquiry into EU energy and growth.
At 11am, the Committee will question Professor Jonathan Stern, Chairman and Senior Research Fellow, Natural Gas Research Programme, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
The Committee will explore with Professor Stern issues including gas price setting in the internal and global markets; gas storage facilities; exploitation of shale gas and the impact on gas of the promotion of renewable energy.
Following on, at 12pm, the Committee will hear from the following representatives of the European Investment Bank (EIB), via video-link:
- Simon Brooks, CB, Vice President for the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland;
- Nicholas Jennett, Director, New Products and Special Transactions Department; and
- Cheryl Fisher, Director of Energy, Projects Directorate.
The witnesses from the Bank are likely to face questions on:
- the criteria for offering investment to energy-related projects and whether the Bank invests in new coal plants;
- whether investment in the energy sector has increased over the last decade and how they see it evolving over the next;
- the Risk-Sharing Finance Facility the bank uses to provide finance for research, development and innovation;
- the impact on investment in renewable energy of the increasing interest in shale gas; and
- their views on how far investment in energy infrastructure has economic impacts for growth.
The evidence sessions will take place on Wednesday 12 December from 11am in Committee Room 1 of the House of Lords and will be webcast live at www.parliamentlive.tv.
The evidence session is also open to the public. Journalists wishing to attend should go to Parliament's Cromwell Green Entrance and should allow time for security screening.
