§ Mr. StunellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the associated backup costs for wind penetration of(a) 10 per cent., (b) 15 per cent. and (c) 20 per cent.; and what the assumptions are underpinning these estimates. [169778]
§ Mr. TimmsEstimates of the back-up costs of renewables, including wind power, were made in the report "Quantifying the System Costs of Additional Renewables in 2020" commissioned from consultants ILEX as part of the analysis for the February 2003 Energy White Paper. The report is available on the DTI website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/developep/ 080scar_report_v2_0.pdf.
The report considered the additional costs associated with increasing the proportion of renewables generation to 20 per cent. and 30 per cent. by 2020.
Table 12 of the report indicates that the back-up costs of wind power, in terms of generating capacity and system balancing would be of the order of £6 to £7 per 1403W MWh of wind generation. Details of the assumptions used and the analysis applied are contained in the report.
Estimates have not been made for lower penetrations of renewables. However, the report indicates that backup costs associated with wind are less than £1 per MWh higher in scenarios where renewables reach 30 per cent. of generation, compared with scenarios where renewables reach 20 per cent. of generation.
Under the electricity trading arrangements, generators have strong financial incentives to deliver the power they have contracted to sell to electricity suppliers.
§ Mr. StunellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the backup costs for electricity generated from(a) wind energy and (b) nuclear power. [169779]
§ Mr. TimmsEstimates of the back-up costs of renewables, including wind power, were made in the report "Quantifying the System Costs of Additional Renewables in 2020" commissioned from consultants ILEX as part of the analysis for the February 2003 Energy White Paper. The report is available on the DTI website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/developep/080scar_rcport_v2_0.pdf.
Table 12 of the report indicates that the back-up costs of wind power, in terms of generating capacity and system balancing would be of the order of £6 to £7 per MWh of wind generation in 2020. Details of the assumptions used and the analysis applied are contained in the report.
Estimates of the back-up costs of nuclear power have not been made.