§ Mr. CohenTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his Department's estimate of the current demand for power set against supply(a) currently, (b) by 2000 and (c) by 2010; and how the future estimates are reached.
§ Mr. EggarThe latest estimates of electricity supply and demand are available in my Department's publication 655W "Energy Trends". Provisional 1991 figures for total electricity available for consumption, from both public distribution and other generators, in the United Kingdom amounted to some 315 TWh which, after transmission, distribution and other losses, provided for some 290 TWh of electricity consumption.
The Department does not produce specific estimates of future energy demand, although some analysis of the energy market is carried out in order to produce scenarios for United Kingdom carbon dioxide emission. Details of the revised scenarios, including their underlying assumptions, are being prepared for publication.