Mr. LaurenceTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 18 March 2004, Official Report, column 501W, on the electricity network, how many warnings have been issued by National Grid Transco about low levels of spare electricity generating capacity (a) this year and (b) in each of the previous seven years for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [172543]
§ Mr. TimmsNational Grid have issued the following system warnings as part of normal operations to inform the market that its projected reserve is not fully met:
Amount of system warnings 2004 12 2003 13 2002 7 2001 18 2000 41 1999 13 1998 2 1997 1 1 To date