§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment the Government have made of the millennium computer compliance of systems relating to the(a) Channel Tunnel and (b) supply of electricity from the French power grid. [89855]
§ Mr. WillsThe Channel Tunnel has been assessed by the Independent Safety Authority as being 100 per cent. blue in Action 2000 terms—as having no substantive risk of material disruption. There were no significant failures during a full scale test of the systems at the beginning of July. However, the systems will continue to be monitored for compliance and existing contingency planning arrangements will be under constant review over the coming months.
All control systems associated with the Anglo-French electricity Interconnector have successfully met all millennium compliance test criteria. Residual risks to Interconnector operation are currently being assessed and consideration is being given to part loaded operation over the millennium period to minimise the impact of unforeseen events.
The total capacity of the Interconnector is 2x1,000MW circuits; the installed generating capacity in England and Wales is more than 65,000MW, and the typical peak demand over New Year's Eve is likely to be in the order of 37,000MW.
The Government, Regulators and Action 2000 will continue to monitor the arrangements being made by those responsible for the provision of infrastructure services in seeking to ensure that it will be business as usual over the millennium period.