HC Deb 15 February 1988 vol 127 cc688-9
3. Mr. Stern

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what proportion of the electricity produced by coal-fired power stations comes from stations on coastal sites.

Mr. Parkinson

I am advised by the CEGB that, in the financial year 1986–87, 15 per cent. of electricity produced by coal-fired power stations came from stations on coastal sites.

Mr. Stern

I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. Does he agree that it is in the interests of the nation as a whole and in the interests of whatever company or companies are generating electricity that more coastal sites should be encouraged so that the electricity generation industry can take maximum advantage of acquiring coal at world prices, whether that coal comes from this country or abroad?

Mr. Parkinson

As my hon. Friend has just said, when the industry is privatised we will not force it to buy British coal. Equally, we believe that if British Coal continues to be productive and to improve its performance it will become the supplier of choice. We cannot make it the supplier of necessity. We are not prepared to do that. We believe that it is capable of being the supplier of choice.

Mr. Prescott

Will the Secretary of State tell us why he so emphatically believes that the coal industry, after privatisation of the electricity industry, should be dictated by market conditions and choice and that he should not force a decision upon it, when he is prepared to force a decision on the nuclear industry at higher cost to the CEGB? Why this inconsistency? Will the Secretary of State stop dithering and tell us that he will produce a White Paper before the privatisation of the electricity industry?

Mr. Parkinson

The Government believe that there is an important security element in electricity supply which comes from diversity. We want to see diverse sources of supply—nuclear, coal, gas, oil and renewables. There is nothing inconsistent about that.

So far as the coal industry is concerned, the hon. Gentleman should use his influence with his friends in the National Union of Mineworkers and tell them that the more overtime bans and work to rules there are, and the more problems the industry imposes on itself, the worse its prospects will be.

Mr. Robert B. Jones

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that, with the power stations located on the east coast, the Government will do their best to ensure that sulphur emissions are minimal, because of the effects on other countries?

Mr. Parkinson

Yes. An investment programme of about £800 million is planned to introduce emission controls into some of our coal-fired power stations. All new power stations will have those controls built into them. My hon. Friend is on to an important point.