HC Deb 12 February 1990 vol 167 cc92-3W
Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is his Department's current estimate of severe weather peak demand for electricity, this year and for each succeeding year up to 1995.

Mr. Wakeham

In the financial year 1988–89 average cold spell system maximum demand for electricity in England and Wales was 48.1 GW. The Department has no estimate of this number for future years.

(2) what was the total of electricity imported from France in 1989 in (a) kilowatt hours and (b) 1986 values.

Mr. Wakeham

Provisional data for the period December 1988 to November 1989, as published in the overseas trade statistics, show that electricity imports from France amounted to 14,045 GW hours. This equates to £346 million at 1986 prices. The figure at 1986 prices has been derived by applying the unit value of electricity imports in 1986 to the volume imported in 1989. There were no exports of electricity recorded for this period.