Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the whole system costs of different energy technologies; and when that information will be published.

Quantifying the whole system impacts of electricity technologies is a complex exercise which requires sophisticated electricity system modelling. In order to build on previous internal analysis quantifying system costs for some electricity technologies, DECC has commissioned a project titled: Whole System Impacts of Electricity Generation Technologies.

This project will improve DECC’s internal electricity system modelling capability to better capture the costs and benefits of all generation technologies on the whole electricity system. It will also allow a better representation of the dynamics behind these costs and benefits, in particular how they vary over time and with the background electricity mix.

This project is currently ongoing and given the complex modelling involved, it requires a rigorous quality assurance process to ensure the analysis is robust. We are aiming to complete the project in the first half of 2016, and will publish the results as soon as possible.