Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2014, Official Report, column 1258, on energy security, what the evidential basis is for his statement that the rate of investment in gas is increasing.

The statement by my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change referred to the overall level of investment. £45 billion has been invested in electricity infrastructure since 2010. This figure was published in DECC's “Energy Investment Report” April 20141, which also presented information from the ONS Annual Business Survey showing increased annual capital expenditure on electricity, power generation and distribution since 2005, with 2012 as the record year to date.

Since 2010 six gas plants have commissioned in the UK with a further £700m plant at Carrington under construction. This compares to five gas plants that commissioned from 2005 – 2010. Details of each plant are listed in the table below2. Additionally, energy companies will have developed and implemented investment plans in relation to their existing fleet of gas plants.

[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/305860/DECC_Energy_investment_report_Web_Final.pdf

2 Taken from DUKES Table 5.11 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-chapter-5-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes