§ 4. Mr. Nabarroasked the Minister of Fuel and Power what is the estimated deficit, expressed as a percentage of 1782 maximum generating capacity, at peak hours during the period November, 1952, to February, 1953, of anticipated maximum generating capacity of the British Electricity Authority power houses compared with anticipated maximum demand, each excluding private generators, and both in respect of an average cold winter day and a very cold spell.
§ Mr. Geoffrey LloydThese estimates, which are inevitably tentative, are for a cold spell about 12 per cent. and for severe weather about 18 per cent. of the probable available capacity.
§ Mr. NabarroIn view of the reduction in the rate of load spreading in the forthcoming winter, is my right hon. Friend reasonably confident that it will be sufficient to meet all foreseeable contingencies?
§ Mr. LloydIt would be very unwise to be complacent in this matter, but I believe that the committee have struck a fair balance between the need for economy and avoiding putting too much inconvenience upon industry and the workers in industry.
§ Sir A. GridleyMay I ask my right hon. Friend whether, in the percentages he has given, those figures are based upon the normal rated capacity of the plant or whether they have taken into account the overload capacity for which modern equipment is designed? Secondly, have the figures allowed for additional private plants that are put in by industrialists in the course of the present year?
§ Mr. LloydThe capacity is the maximum generating capacity minus that part of the plant which is expected by the B.E.A. normally to be out of commission due to breakdowns. Private generators are an integral part of the economy that it is hoped to achieve in the course of load spreading.
§ Sir A. GridleyThat does not quite answer my first question: whether the capacity of the new plant—the more modern plant that has been put in this year and in immediately preceding years—is based on the normal rated output capacity or on the overload capacity, which is usually 25 per cent. for two years.
§ Mr. LloydI should not like to give a categorical answer on that technical point without inquiring of the B.E.A.
§ Mr. NabarroWill my right hon. Friend bear in mind that the Minister of Labour, in making his announcement on this matter last Tuesday, specifically exhorted all owners of independent generating plant to use them to maximum capacity in the forthcoming winter?