Will The White Paper Keep The Lights On?

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) have published their long-trumpeted white paper on the reform of the UK electricity market. Having given the industry clear pointers on Government-favoured options in the consultation launched at the end of last year, there are no surprises. The four key measures in the white paper are:

• A new system of Feed-in Tariffs with Contracts for Difference (FiT CfD) as a long-term subsidy contract for low-carbon generation, to provide a clear, stable and predictable revenue stream for investors.
• The introduction of a Carbon Price Floor (CPF) to provide a stronger incentive to invest in low-carbon technology.
• An Emissions Performance Standard (EPS) set as an annual limit of 450g CO2/kWh at baseload, reinforcing the requirement that no new coal-fired power stations are built without Carbon Capture and Storage.