David T. C. Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David T. C. Davies on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the total dispatchable electricity capacity was in January (a) 2013, (b) 2014, (c) 2015 and (d) 2016; and what estimate she has made of that capacity in January (i) 2017, (ii) 2018 and (iii) 2019.
Andrea Leadsom
Dispatchable electricity, as defined by National Grid, comprises of generation that can be switched on and off at relatively short notice. This does not include substantial capacity in the GB mix such as nuclear and wind generation.
The attached table outlines both expected Pre-Winter dispatchable capacity[1], as per the relevant National Grid Winter Outlook publications and the 2015 Future Energy Scenarios Slow Progression projection of available capacity.
Post-2015/16 figures represent the Slow Progression July 2015 outlook of generation background. We take energy security very seriously and monitor the commercial outlook of supply frequently alongside National Grid and Ofgem.
The trend of declining conventional capacity has arisen due to margins in preceding years being unnecessarily large because of the recession. The drop off in capacity is a symptom of returning to the kinds of margins we were used to pre-recession and to reflect improvements in energy efficiency as well as increasing levels of renewable technologies coming on to the system.
Our priority is to ensure that British families and business have access to secure affordable energy supplies that they can rely on. National Grid have a number of tools to ensure a secure supply of electricity including Contingency Balancing Reserve, in which additional power stations are held to provide security in times of system stress. This extra capacity will help us to ensure we meet the GB 3 hour LOLE reliability standard and will be sufficient to maintain security of supply even in the toughest system conditions.
In addition to the Contingency Balancing Reserve, from 2018, the Capacity Market will ensure that retiring plant can be replaced by new investment by providing additional secure investment for both existing and new electricity generators
