§ Malcolm Bruce:To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment of the impact on Britain's spare generating capacity she has made of the continuing repair work to (a) Heysham 1 and (b) Sizewell B power stations; and if she will make a statement. [141541]
§ Mr. Timms[holding answer 2 December 2003]Sizewell B returned to operation on 15 November 2003.
108WBritish Energy have stated that they expect Heysham 1 to return to service around the middle of December 2003. The capacity of Heysham 1 is 1165 MW.
In the October 2003 Update of their Seven Year Statement, National Grid Company (NGC) projected total capacity available this winter for England and Wales of 66,697 MW and peak demand of 55,900 MW. Should Heysham 1 be unavailable at the time of peak demand, these figures suggest there could still he up to 9,632 MW more generating capacity than demand, providing cover against other plant breakdowns and exceptional demand levels.
Since NGC issued the October 2003 Update, a further 560 MW of previously mothballed capacity at Killingholme has been returned to service by PowerGen.