§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list all the schemes for gas-fired power stations which are known to his Department giving in each case details of the progress of applications for consent to build and operate them and the names of the organisations concerned.
§ Mr. WakehamNot all gas-fired projects known to my Department are in the public domain, and I must respect the wish for commercial confidentiality where it exists. The projects that have been made public, and the consents that I have so far given are:
Company Project Consents received Lakeland Power Roosecote Gas burn consent Thames Power Barking Gas burn consent Hawker Siddeley Corby Gas burn consent Peterborough Gas burn consent Lasmo/Ranger South Denes Gas burn consent British Sugar Brigg — Shell Shellhaven — ICl/Enron Wilton — Sheffield Heat & Power Sheffield — CEGB Killingholme (A) Gas burn consent Little Barford Gas burn consent Killingholme(PowerGen) Gas burn consent Rye House Gas burn consent The stations planned by the CEGB would require capital investment approval in addition to consents from me under section 2 of the Electric Lighting Act 1909. I 474W shall reach decisions in due course. I cannot comment on the position on other consents or authorisations which may be required for these stations from other authorities.
§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what assessment his Department has made of the likely impact on employment in the mining industry of the proposed gas-fired power station at Killingholme.
§ Mr. WakehamIt will be for the British Coal Corporation to assess the implications for its manpower requirements of changes in fuel purchasing arrangements within the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what effect the European Community directive prohibiting the use of national gas for power generation is likely to have on gas-fired power station proposals in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. WakehamThe use of gas for power generation is not prohibited by EEC directive 75/404; rather, its use has to meet certain criteria. The Government assess gas-powered generation project proposals against the criteria in the directive, such as the thermal efficiency and environmental impact of the plant.
§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what estimate his Department has made of the likely impact of gas-fired power stations on the consumption of coal in power stations.
§ Mr. WakehamMy Department makes no such estimates; decisions on fossil fuel choice are matters for the industry. Mechanistic scenarios, which are not to be construed as estimates, illustrating the technical options which may be available to curtail emissions of the greenhouse gases from the United Kingdom are however contained in my Department's paper "An evaluation of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions and measures to ameliorate them", a copy of which is in the Library of the House. Section 2 of chapter 5 deals with alternative fossil-fuelled power generation.
§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what is his Department's estimate of the likely increase in gas-fired generating capacity in the United Kingdom in each year to 1995;
(2) what is his Department's estimate of the likely percentage of electricity to be generated by gas-fired power stations in each year to 1995.
§ Mr. WakehamThis depends on the growth of demand and on decisions to be taken by the electricity industry.
§ Mr. DobsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy, when he expects to announce his decision on the application to build a gas-fired power station at Killingholme.
§ Mr. WakehamThe CEGB has submitted two applications for my consent under section 2 of the Electric Lighting Act 1909 to construct combined cycle gas turbine power stations at Killingholme. My officials are currently discussing a number of points relevant to my consideration of the applications with the CEGB, the relevant local planning authorities and other Government Departments. I will announce my decisions on the two applications when I am ready to do so.