Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many hours over the past year has gas generation been online and setting the wholesale price, used not meet power demand but to meet system inertia requirements.

Generation activated to meet the system’s inertia requirements does not set the wholesale price.

NESO meets system inertia requirements through procuring in the balancing and ancillary service markets, rather than the wholesale market. The wholesale market operates on the principle of marginal pricing, where the most expensive technology required to meet demand sets the price. However, the balancing market operates on a “pay as bid” model, where generators are paid based on the price they bid into the market, rather than the marginal price.