§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) how much electricity is currently generated per annum in England from combined heat and power plants; and what is the percentage of the total electricity generated in England provided by CHP stations: [13447]
(2) how many sites in Wales presently operate combined heat and power stations: and what is the total output of electricity generated by these plants. [13322]
§ Mr. PageMy Department collects data relating to electricity generated on a United Kingdom basis. The electricity generated in the United Kingdom from combined heat and power plants and the percentage of electricity provided by CHP are:
1993 1994 1995 Electricity generated by CHP 14,171 12,152 17,761 GWh GWh GWh Electricity generated by CHP as a percentage of total electricity generated 4.4 3.7 5.3 Source:
Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics 1996.
§ Mr. SmithTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the opportunities to increase employment in the power generation sector through the building of further combined heat and power plants. [13398]
§ Mr. PageWe are committed to the wider use of CHP. The Government recently published a national strategy and has a target to increase CHP capacity to 5,000 MW by the year 2000. This target was set primarily to pursue energy efficiency and climate change objectives, and while increased employment may well also result, no such assessment has been made.