Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the amount of backup generation capacity required to support a) wind and b) solar electricity generation.

The Capacity Market is government’s main tool for ensuring continued security of electricity supply in Great Britain. It is technology neutral and provides incentives for all forms of capacity, including generation, storage, consumer-led flexibility and interconnection to be on the system to deliver when needed.

The volume of capacity procured through the Capacity Market is set based on advice from National Energy System Operator (NESO) in their annual Electricity Capacity Report. Through the Capacity Market we have secured a total of 57.4 GW for the coming winter, meaning we can have confidence that we will have sufficient capacity available to deliver electricity when needed.