To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any energy gap due to the decommissioning of 15-20 gigawatts of generating capacity by 2015. [HL101]

We expect around 12 gigawatts of oil- and coal-fired generation to close by 2015, as a result of the large combustion plants directive (LCPD), with a further 7 gigawatts of nuclear plant scheduled to close by 2020.

The market is already responding to the challenge of replacing the plant with significant new generating capacity already in the process of being delivered:

9 gigawatts of new capacity is presently under construction;

a further 3 gigawatts has consent; and

applications for consent are outstanding for nearly 4.5 gigawatts more.

However, more is needed and we will ensure the right regulatory framework continues to be in place to bring this forward.