The UK dash for gas is looking increasingly like a race that’s run according to the latest figures released by the government that appear to indicate generators are boosting coal-fired generation in response to an improving margin and volatile gas prices.
The DTI has published its latest quarterly analysis of electricity generation revealing that generation from coal-fired capacity is rising at the expense of gas.
Total electricity supplied in 2005 rose by 0.8% on the year to 362 TWh, with the proportion of coal growing by 3.4% to 126 TWh against that of gas falling by 2.1% to 134.8 TWh. Generation from CCGTs fell by more than 4.5 TWh to 122.67 TWh, almost directly corresponding to the 5.23 TWh boost to conventional thermal generation.