HL Deb 26 May 2004 vol 661 cc149-50WA
Lord Dixon-Smith

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many electricity power stations fuelled by coal have been constructed since 1990 or are under construction by British construction firms in overseas countries using funding guaranteed by the export credit guarantee system; and[HL2928]

How many electricity power stations fuelled by oil have been constructed since 1990 or are under construction by British construction firms in overseas countries using funding guaranteed by the export credit guarantee system; and[HL2929]

How many electricity power stations fuelled by natural gas have been constructed since 1990 or are under construction by British construction firms in overseas countries using funding guaranteed by the export credit guarantee system; and [HL2930]

What is the annual or estimated annual emission in tonnes of carbon dioxide by coal-fired power stations constructed since 1990 or under construction whose funding was guaranteed by the export credit guarantee system; and [HL2931]

What is the annual or estimated annual emission in tonnes of carbon dioxide by oil-fired power stations constructed since 1990 or under construction whose funding was guaranteed by the export credit guarantee system; and [HL2932]

What is the annual or estimated annual emission in tonnes of carbon dioxide by gas-fired power stations constructed since 1990 or under construction whose funding was guaranteed by the export credit guarantee system. [HL2933]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)

ECGD only has readily available information for those power projects for which guarantees have been issued since 1997. It would not be possible to obtain the details of projects from 1990 to 1996 except at disproportionate cost.

The table below shows the number of fossil fuel power stations supported by ECGD since 1997 and their approximate annual carbon dioxide emissions upon completion.

Fuel Type Number of Power Stations ECGD Estimated Capacity (MW) CO2 (Tonnes per year)
Coal 11 11,260 40.6 million
Oil 8 1,020 2.2 million
Gas 9 4,707 7.6 million
Total 28 16,987 50.4 million

It has been assumed the plants operate for 60 per cent of the time (5,256 hours per year). CO2 emissions are calculated using the following conversion factors—Coal: 0.687 tonnes of CO2 per MW per hour, Oil 0.417, Gas: 0.309. These are taken from The Greenhouse Gas Protocol website (www.ghgprotocol.org) and are the 1999 average values for power plants in "Economies in Transition". These are the markets where ECGD most commonly provides guarantees.

It should be noted that for most large power projects ECGD is only one of several finance providers. Scaling the carbon dioxide emissions by the proportion of finance guaranteed by ECGD would give a figure of less than 20 million tonnes per year of carbon dioxide that is directly attributable to ECGD's participation.