Department for Energy Security and Net Zero written question – answered at on 30 April 2024.
Craig Mackinlay
Conservative, South Thanet
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the average levelised cost is for combined cycle gas-fired power stations, assuming current natural gas spot prices, in the last five years; and what the average levelised cost is for offshore windfarms commissioned in the same period.
Justin Tomlinson
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department publishes its levelised costs of electricity for a generic plant in the Generation Costs Report, most recently in 2023 (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/energy-generation-cost-projections). These provide forecasts for 2025 to 2040. Gas CCGT is 114 £/MWh for 2025 and offshore wind is 44 £/MWh for 2025 (2021 price base). Levelised costs use a forecast of gas prices over the lifetime of a plant based on the latest published gas price forecasts at the time of publication (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fossil-fuel-price-assumptions-2019).
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.