Consultation On Reform Options

This consultation document seeks views on proposals for implementing the key mechanisms under electricity market reform (EMR) - the Contracts for Difference (CfDs), the Capacity Market, and associated institutional and delivery arrangements. A package of draft secondary legislation is included to help illustrate the proposals. EMR is the Government's response to the challenges facing the electricity sector: a fifth of 2011 capacity has to close over the next ten years; the need to transform the generation mix to respond to climate change and to meet legally-binding carbon and renewable targets; the expectation that electricity demand will continue to increase over the coming decades. An estimated £110 billion investment is required over the next 10 years. CfDs will provide long-term revenue stabilisation to low-carbon plant, allowing investment to come forward at a lower cost of capital. The Capacity Market will provide a regular retainer payment to reliable forms of capacity (both demand and supply side), in return for such capacity being available when electricity supply is being squeezed. The National Grid will be the delivery body for EMR. The key mechanisms will be supported by: carbon price floor, a tax underpinning the price of carbon emissions in the UK; emissions performance standard, a regulatory backstop to the amount of CO2 emissions from new fossil-fuel power stations; action to promote electricity demand reduction; Ofgem's measures to improve wholesale market liquidity. The Energy Bill currently progressing through Parliament will introduce the powers to implement EMR.