§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the current replacement rate of assets operated by the national electricity grid is. [152040]
§ Mr. TimmsCapital expenditure on asset replacement by the National Grid Company plc is currently of the order of £120 million per year, approximately one-third of NGC's total annual capital expenditure under its current regulatory price control. The value of the company's network assets is approximately £5 billion, which gives an average replacement rate of 42 years.
NGC's asset replacement expenditure is based on a careful assessment of asset condition and not on a simple average asset age approach to replacement rate.