Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effect of the National Grid’s assumption of electricity supply from interconnectors increasing from 0GW to 1GW of electricity at the same time as electricity margins on the continent shrink on the UK being able to import electricity at times of peak demand.

Andrea Leadsom

National Grid makes an assessment of the extent to which all GB interconnectors can be relied upon to provide electricity to GB when needed. The assumptions around electricity imports are informed by an assessment of connected markets, including consideration of their electricity margins, the wider network to which they are connected and the chance of coincident scarcity with the connected markets.

Beyond these market arrangements, should GB need additional support, it is also possible for National Grid as the System Operator to call upon interconnectors at a time of system stress.