National Grid accepts 52.4GW for the first capacity auction

National Grid has approved 52.4GW of derated power generation capacity in its pre-qualification round for the UK’s first capacity market auction set for this December.

The transmission system operator added that a further 10.1GW has provisionally qualified subject to submitting further documentation.

The Department of Energy and Climate change said in June that it will hold an auction to secure 50.8GW, or 80 per cent of the UK’s peak electricity demand, for delivery in four years time.

National Grid said that 8GW of derated generation capacity opted out of the capacity market process meaning they will not participate in the December auction. However, this does not mean the plant cannot continue to participate in the market.

Decc minister Ed Davey has previously described the capacity market as “the final piece of the jigsaw” in terms of safeguarding power capacity in the face of dwindling supply margins as older plant closes and new low carbon investment begins to come forward.

Although analysts speculated that the auction could favour existing coal-fired power over new investment in gas-fired power, there have been notable exceptions in the pre-qualifying results.

Independent generator Carlton Power will move forward the plans for its Trafford Power combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) and has bought a stake in General Electric’s Thorpe CCGT, both of which have pre-qualified for the auction.

In addition InterGen’s two development projects, Gateway Energy Centre and Spalding Energy Expansion, totaling 1.8 GW of capacity, were also successful at the prequalifying round.

“Capacity market pre-qualification represents a positive step for InterGen and for the UK towards delivering a secure and flexible generation fleet in order to keep the lights on,” Intergen’s general manager Mark Somerset said.

Scottish Power is opting not to enter its Longannet coal-fired power plant in the auction.

Scottish Power’s chief executive of energy retail and generation Neil Clitheroe called for the transmission charges for the plant to be overhauled to secure its future use.

“We do not want to close Longannet, and I would stress that there are no plans to do so. We have invested over £200 million in recent years to improve both environmental and operational performance at Longannet, and we want to secure a longer term future for the station,” Clitheroe said.

“However, to avoid closure within the coming years, changes to the plant’s financial situation must be achieved. The current market conditions, predominantly the transmission charging rules, mean that we simply can’t justify entering Longannet into a process which is four years away and will then only offer one year of certainty,” he added.