§ 27. Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Energy what are the latest estimates available for the proportion of electricity which is generated by 410W coal, nuclear fuels and oil, respectively; what plans he has for reducing the proportion produced by oil and hence increasing the proportions produced by coal and nuclear fuels; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John A. CunninghamInformation on the use of primary fuels for electricity generation by the public supply system is published monthly in Table 9 ofEnergy Trends, which is available in the Library of the House. The proportion of fuels used is kept under regular review with the industries and unions concerned. The proportion of oil has fallen significantly over the past two years, while the proportion of coal and nuclear has increased. We are seeking powers in the Coal Industry Bill to assist in appropriate cases the sale of coal to the generating boards.
Following is the information:—
The latest figures published in the January 1977 issue for the period January to November 1976 are given below, together with the corresponding percentages:
Primary Fuel Million tonnes of coal or coal equivalent Percentage Coal 67.0 70.2 Oil 14.5 15.3 Nuclear 10.0 10.5 Other (hydro and natural gas) 3.9 4.0 TOTAL 95.4 100.0 The coal and oil figures include very small quantities used for the production of steam for sale. The oil figure includes a small amount used for lighting up coal-fired boilers. Nuclear and hydroelectricity are expressed in terms of coal equivalent of the primary fuels that would be needed if the same amount of electricity was produced in contemporary conventional steam stations. Nuclear power in fact provided 12.9 per cent. of the total electricity generated by the public supply system in that period.