Peers examined rules that would let Contracts for Difference be used to support older nuclear stations as they near closure, with questions over consumer costs, value for money and parliamentary oversight; the Minister said the power was only an option and any future deal would face detailed cost checks.

The Grand Committee backed small changes to the Contracts for Difference scheme ahead of allocation round 8, with ministers saying the revisions would let officials correct mistakes in allocation decisions and make the process fairer. Peers used the debate to push the Government to keep geothermal in future rounds, consider support for geothermal heat networks and district heating, and do more to help onshore wind and avoid grid bottlenecks.