§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Energy whether new legislation or any further powers will require to be sought from Parliament before the CEGB can place an order for the Drax B power station; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. EadieIt is intended that the legislation to be introduced this Session on the reorganisation of the electricity supply industry will include provision for making payments to the Central Electricity Generating Board in consideration of its advancing Drax B.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects the design contract for the Drax B power station to be placed; and when he anticipates the actual manufacturing work will commence.
§ Mr. EadieI understand from the CEGB that the design phase contract for the boilers was placed on 7th November and that the turbo-alternator design phase contract will be placed within the next fortnight. It is not possible to give precise timings for the commencement of manufacturing work, but depending on the satisfactory completion of commercial negotiations and progress with the design phase contracts the board anticipates that manufacturing work could begin in the first part of 1978. To shorten this time scale the board intends, wherever possible, to authorise the early ordering of materials with long lead times.