Book Description
This report discharges obligation under section 172 of the Energy Act 2004 as amended by section 80 of the Energy Act 2011; to report annually on the availability of electricity and gas for meeting the reasonable demands of consumers in Great Britain. It also discharges obligation under certain EU Directives to monitor and report on gas and electricity security of supply issues. This year's report includes two annexes: the Secretary of State's response to Ofgem's Electricity Capacity Assessment report; and an update to the indicators on security of supply published in the Energy Security Strategy of November 2012. Great Britain's electricity system faces some significant challenges over coming years. Older more polluting generation capacity has been closing under EU directives and some generation infrastructure is naturally coming to the end of its working life. In addition the system needs to ensure the UK can meet its decarbonisation objectives. In relation to gas, GB has the most liquid and one of the largest gas markets in Europe with extensive import infrastructure and a diverse range of gas supply sources. If necessary it could meet nearly double (189 per cent) its annual demand from imports alone. With regards to oil, the international nature of oil markets mean that if there are issues with a particular supply source it is likely to impact on prices paid, as opposed to physical supplies, as other supplies step in to take advantage of higher prices on offer. However GB's dependence on imports is expected to increase as oil demand globally continues to rise, and as global production becomes more complex