§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the current excess electricity generating capacity in the United Kingdom above simultaneous maximum demand—as experienced in the past 12 months—and what additional capacity will come on stream by 1986 as power stations under construction are completed and commissioned, assuming that no existing stations are phased out before that year.
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§ Mr. Norman LamontIn 1978–79, the highest simultaneous maximum demand for England and Wales was 44.1 GW and occurred on 19 December 1978. At that time 46.1 GW of plant was available for service, and the maximum demand represented 79 per cent. of the declared net capacity of 55.8 GW.
In the period up to 1986 a further 14.8 GW of new capacity will come on stream from stations at present under construction. Within the same period the Central Electricity Generating Board expects to have decommissioned about 4.2 GW of plant whose serviceability can no longer be reasonably maintained.
Power stations in Scotland and Northern Ireland are the responsibility of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Energy what was the balance of load as between oil-fired, coal-fired and nuclear power stations during February, on average.
§ Mr. LamontI am advised that the balance of load between oil-fired, coal-fired and nuclear power stations supplied by the CEGB in England and Wales during February 1979 was as follows:
Type Units supplied (Gwh) Proportion (per cent.) Coal 16,289.845 73.15 Oil 3,401.700 15.28 Nuclear 2,535.000 11.38 Other 42.455 0.19 TOTAL 22,269.000 100.00 Power stations in Scotland and Northern Ireland are the responsibility of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Energy how many nuclear, oil-fired and coal-fired power stations were out of commission during February on account of malfunction, refuelling, overhaul or for other reasons.
§ Mr. Norman LamontI am advised by the CEGB that no major nuclear, coal-fired or oil-fired stations had units out of commission for the whole of February. The relatively small proportion of plant out of service for breakdown, etc., for 257W some period during the month is reflected in the following figures which show the average daily proportion of total capacity that was available for service at times of national peak demand thtroughout the month of February.
Type Percentage Availability Coal 80.10 Oil 86.18 Nuclear 86.53 Power stations in Scotland and Northern Ireland are the responsibility of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.