§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what appraisal he has made of the implications of the expansion of power generation through combined cycle gas turbines not fitted with an automatic governor response for the security of the national grid network. [65985]
§ Mr. BattleThe Government have not made any appraisal of the issue mentioned, since all combined cycle gas turbines connected to the National Grid Company's transmission system are required under the Grid Code to have automatic governors fitted. The Government have, however, established a steering group to take forward work on a number of other system security and stability measures (black start, frequency response, load following, and reactive power), as proposed in the October 1998 White Paper Conclusions of the Review of Energy Sources for Power Generation and Government Response to fourth and fifth Reports of the Trade and Industry Committee. This group will also consider the impact on the Grid of plant which is not connected to it and which is not, therefore, bound by the Grid Code.