Chart of the week | We built this city… on existing generation

The Capacity Market (CM), introduced under the Electricity Market Reform (EMR) policy programme is designed to ensure security of electricity supply in GB. This is done by providing payments – determined through a competitive auction– to generators and eligible demand side response (DSR) and can encourage existing plant to remain online and investment in new capacity.

However, as we show in this Chart of the Week, T-4 CM auctions have seen an irregular pattern of new-build development, despite plant closures, market changes and new technologies entering the scheme. The chart shows all capacity types awarded agreements through various auctions, focusing on existing generation, interconnection and new-build generation.

Lee Drummee

Lee Drummee

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