Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the UK’s energy capacity can keep up with demand.

Andrea Leadsom

The Capacity Market secures electricity capacity, mainly power plant and Demand Side Response, through competitive auctions. Targets for the auction are set to ensure there is enough capacity available to meet peak electricity demand.

On 1 March 2016, DECC announced that we are consulting on changes to the CM, to buy more capacity and earlier; tighten the sanctions on those who fail to deliver on their obligations; and bolster energy security in the short–term, by holding a new auction bringing forward the first Capacity Market delivery year to 2017/18.

We are confident that the Capacity Market is the right mechanism to bring forward the necessary new capacity as older, less efficient plants close.