Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Pilkington - Greengate Natural Gas Power Station.
Generation capacity information for GB can be located on the TEC Register on the National Grid ESO website at https://www.nationalgrideso.com/document/149106/download
Generation capacity information for NI can be located in the annual All-Island Generation Capacity Statement produced by the Transmission System Operators for Ireland and Northern Ireland, the most recent of which can be found at http://www.eirgridgroup.com/site-files/library/EirGrid/Generation_Capacity_Statement_2018.pdf
The Capacity Market provides an effective mechanism for bringing forward capacity in GB as and when it is needed. The Capacity Market registers (available at https://www.emrdeliverybody.com/CM/Registers.aspx) provide a record of which capacity providers in GB have legal agreements requiring them to make their capacity available over coming years.
Energy policy in Northern Ireland is largely a transferred (devolved) matter and a Capacity Market was introduced as part of the relaunched Single Electricity Market in October 2018.
Decommissioning decisions are a commercial matter for the company concerned. Following consultation in November 2016 the Government confirmed its commitment to put an end to unabated coal power generation in GB from 2025.