To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether his Department has undertaken research into the comparative effectiveness of wind turbines and fossil fuel generation in producing electricity; and if he will make a statement.

The usual approach of assessing the effectiveness of different electricity generation technologies is to use the levelised cost of generating one megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity.

The analysis underpinning Renewable Energy Strategy, published in July 2009, used assumptions on the generating costs and wider impacts of wind generation. Full details of which are set out in Element (2009) and Redpoint/Trilemma (2009), which are available on the DECC website.

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) have published estimated levelised costs (£/MWh, in 2008 prices) associated with 1 MWh of electricity generated, for their December 2008 report:

http://www.theccc.org.uk/pdf/TSO-ClimateChange.pdf

Their analysis for fossil fuel plant is set out in table 2 and include construction, operation and maintenance costs and the cost of carbon allowances (EU ETS).

It should be noted that the estimates of levelised costs for different types of electricity generation are highly sensitive to the assumptions used for capital costs, fuel and EU ETS allowance prices, operating costs, load factor, and other drivers. In reality, there are large uncertainties and ranges around these figures.