U.K. to Start Power Payments a Year Early to Keep Lights On
- Government plans to start capacity market auction in January
- Seeks to increase amount of available capacity by 3 gigawatts
The National Grid control centre in Wokingham, U.K.
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The U.K. will start payments to power generators to guarantee electricity supply in the winter of 2017 to 2018, a year earlier than previously planned, in an attempt to improve supply margins and encourage the building of new gas plants.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change wants to increase the amount of capacity available by 3 gigawatts, enough to supply about 6 million homes, and is consulting with National Grid Plc to decide how much to procure in an auction planned for January, it said in a statement on the government’s website. DECC will also increase the penalties for companies that fail to deliver on their capacity contracts.