§ Mr. HardyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his estimate of the working lifespan of a gas-fired power generating station constructed in 1992; and what steps he is taking to ensure that adequate supplies of gas at reasonable prices will be available throughout the period involved.
§ Mr. EggarThe Government's aim is a competitive market within which the lifespan of individual power stations and the arrangements for fuelling them are matters for their operators.
In the Government's observations on the Fourth Report of the Energy Select Committee (Session 1989–90), "The Cost of Nuclear Power", (a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House) the lifetime of a combined cycle gas turbine power station was assumed to be between 20 and 40 years.
United Kingdom offshore gas reserves alone are sufficient to meet likely levels of United Kingdom demand for gas, including power generation, well beyond the turn of the century.