Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what criteria is used by National Grid ESO to determine acceptable levels of regional electricity system restoration capability.

The Electricity System Operator (NGESO), has a legal obligation to have a capability to restore the electricity system in the event of a total or partial failure.

In line with historic expectations, NGESO has sourced and procured capability to achieve the restoration of 60% of national demand within 24 hours. This level of demand equates to the level required to run a stable, interconnected Electricity Transmission System, from which remaining demand can be restored.

This approach requires a certain number of self-starting generators to be available in each region and prioritises the restoration of supplies to other generators to maintain a broadly consistent rate of restoration across all GB regions.

The restoration approach is reviewed at least once every two years, to ensure that GB’s restoration capability keeps pace with all relevant technologies and the changes to the electricity system.