National Grid to give evidence on UK long-term electricity supply

• Parliament TV: The resilience of electricity infrastructure
• Inquiry: The resilience of electricity infrastructure
• Science and Technology Committee (Lords)

Background

On Tuesday 4 November the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee will hear from the National Grid, which this week warned that electricity margins have decreased compared to previous years, due to planned generator closures and breakdowns.

The evidence sessions will focus on the issue of balancing demand and supply in the short and medium term, as the Committee’s inquiry into electricity resilience continues.

Witnesses

Tuesday 4 November, Committee Room 1, Palace of Westminster
 
At 10.40am:

• Mike Calviou, Director of Transmission Network Service, National Grid; and
• Tony Glover, Director of Policy, Energy Networks Association

At 11.40am:

• Professor Keith Bell, Scottish Power Professor of Smart Grids, University of Strathclyde, representing the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC);
• Professor David Newbery, Director of the Energy Policy Research Group (EPRG), Cambridge University, Research Fellow at Imperial College London, and a Member of the Panel of Technical Experts for DECC on National Grid’s Electricity Capacity Report; and
• Professor Michael Grubb, Professor of International Energy and Climate Policy, University College London

Questions

Questions that the Committee will put to the witnesses include:

• To what extent will a further squeezed capacity margin affect the resilience of the electricity system?
• How is the system designed to cope with unexpected power station outages?
• In what way will the Capacity Market ensure security of electricity supply?
• How will climate change affect the resilience of transmission and distribution?

Further information

• About Parliament: Select Committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch Committees