§ Mr. Colvinasked the Secretary of State for Energy what is his latest estimate of the cost in pence per kilowatt hour of electricity produced by plant proposed but not yet commissioned for (a) nuclear, (b) coal, (c) oil and (d) the Severn barrage, on the basis of the Bondi report's preferred scheme.
§ Mr. MellorEstimates of likely ranges of generation costs for the preferred Severn barrage scheme, nuclear plant and coal-fired plant were given in the Severn barrage committee's report as follows:
p/kWh* Preferred Severn barrage 2.5 to 3.5 Nuclear 1.9 to 2.7 Coal 3.5 to 4.7 * December 1980 prices. Costs in pence per kilowatt hour are not a sufficient basis for economic comparison of new generating plant options particularly when load factors and contribution to firm power are widely different. New oil plant will operate at low load factors because of the high cost of fuel oil. A directly comparable figure for oil is not available, but would be higher than those given for coal.