Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-01-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to page 86 of her Department’s publication, Review of the Feed-in Tariffs Scheme: Government response, published in December 2015, what work her Department is undertaking to better understand the whole-system impacts of different electricity technologies; when she plans to complete and publish such work; and if she will make a statement.
Andrea Leadsom
DECC recognises the importance of considering the whole system impacts (both costs and benefits) of different electricity technologies when formulating future government policy, since it is a crucial element in delivering secure, clean and affordable energy to consumers.
In order to continue to improve its evidence base in this area and inform future policy developments, DECC has commissioned a project on the Whole System Impacts of Electricity Generation Technologies on the electricity system. This project will improve DECC’s understanding of what these system costs are (for example, the impact of electricity technologies on wider system balancing actions and networks requirements), as well as improve DECC’s modelling capability to quantify these system costs and their dynamics. The project covers both conventional and low-carbon large- and small-scale technologies.
This project is currently ongoing and given the complex modelling involved, it requires a rigorous quality assurance process to ensure the analysis is robust. A report will be published in due course.
Once this project is completed, DECC will be able to better quantify system costs to inform policy decisions. Any future policy development, such as future renewable support, will be informed by the improved evidence base developed through this project.
