Barry Gardiner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Gardiner on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how the reforms to the Capacity Market announced on 6 May 2016 will ensure a secure electricity supply that is consistent with the decarbonisation objectives set out in her Department’s single departmental plan.

Andrea Leadsom

The Department has set out a number of policies which will decarbonise the economy. For example, we will consult shortly on proposals to close all unabated coal-fired power stations by 2025 to reduce our emissions and continue to invest in new low carbon generation.

The changes to the Capacity Market announced on 6 May will ensure security of electricity supply as we decarbonise: this is non-negotiable. However, all bidders into the Capacity Market are all affected by decarbonisation policies. For example, the EU ETS and the Carbon Price Floor will reduce the competitiveness of coal generation in the Capacity Market relative to cleaner technologies like gas.