§ Mr. Abseasked the Secretary of State for Energy, in the light of the concern expressed by the Electricity Consumers' Council on 5 July that the Electricity Council intends to increase the planning margin of reserve capacity over and above peak demand to 35 per cent., whether the intention to increase the margin results from concern over the unreliability of nuclear advance gas-cooled reactors; and what response he intends making to the Electricity Consumers' Council's statement.
§ Mr. Norman LamontThe electricity industry's view is that the planning margin should be 28 per cent. There is no intention to increase the margin.
§ Mr. Michael McGuireasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list in the Official Report the proportion of electricity generated in the United Kingdom by coal, oil, nuclear, hydro and other sources; and what is the cost per unit of the electricity generated by each source.
§ Mr. Norman LamontIt is not possible to obtain precise figures of electricity generated from coal or oil, but the follow-206W ing figures are based on estimates made by the generating boards:
United Kingdom public supply power stations Proportions of electricity generated in 1978 (per cent.) Coal 67.9 Oil 17.0 Natural Gas 0.9 Nuclear 12.5 Hydro—excluding pumped storage 1.3 Pumped storage 0.4 The readily available information on generation costs relates to CEGB power stations—that is England and Wales only—and was given in answer to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Mr. Shepherd) on 24 May.—[Vol. 967, c. 187]. The CEGB is preparing updated figures and expects to publish them before the end of July. Electricity generation in Scotland and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.