§ Shona McIsaacTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the average number of construction jobs which will be created by each of the gas-fired power stations for which approval has been sought but not yet granted. [114156]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe actual number of construction jobs will vary according to the size of the power station and the stage reached in its construction. From information available to the Department, we estimate that construction of 1 Gigawatt could generate peak employment of around 800 jobs, including an allowance for employment in production of the gas turbines themselves.
§ Shona McIsaacTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will lift the moratorium on the construction of new gas-fired power stations. [114158]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe Government expect to be able to relax the stricter consents policy for new gas-fired power stations as soon as it concludes, on the basis of advice from the Director General of Electricity Supply, that the reform programme has been undertaken and the distortions in the electricity market have been removed. The Government expect the reforms to be substantially complete across the picture before the consents policy is relaxed.