§ Mr. MillerTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will announce his decision on Fleetwood Power Ltd's application to build a new gas-fired power station. [68572]
§ Mr. ByersI have decided, after careful consideration of all the relevant factors, that Fleetwood Power's application for a 1,000 MW combined cycle gas turbine power station at Fleetwood should not be granted. The application will be put on hold unless an interested party satisfies me that it should be determined at this stage.
I have taken this decision in accordance with the policy set out in the White Paper entitled "Conclusions of the Review of Energy Sources for Power Generation and Government response to fourth and fifth Reports of the Trade and Industry Committee" (Cm 4071).
The White Paper stated the Government's commitment to electricity market reforms, including reform of the electricity trading arrangements and that until such reforms were substantially completed there would be a stricter power station consents policy with a presumption against the building of new gas-fired generating capacity.
Decisions on other applications under consideration will be announced in due course.
Copies of the Press Notice and the decision letter are being placed in the Library of the House.