UK energy groups dispute report on energy gap:
Multibillion pound investments in new power plants should keep up supplies in Britain over the next few years and a report that warns of looming supply problems is overly pessimistic, energy industry officials said on Tuesday. The Association of Electricity Producers, network operator National Grid and energy regulator Ofgem all said that a report by consultants LogicaCMG released on Tuesday warning of possible power shortages within 10 years was too gloomy. "Logica's report uses a wide range of assumptions," AEP Chief Executive Officer David Porter said in a statement. "In certain circumstances electricity supply could get tighter. The electricity companies want to invest to ensure that this does not happen and a reasonable level of supply is maintained." Ofgem also played down the conclusions of the report, which warned that energy consumption could exceed supply by 23 percent at peak times as early as 2015, leading to hundreds of billions of pounds of losses to the British economy. "Ofgem is confident the markets can deliver new electricity generation capacity," a spokesman for the energy regulator said. The spokesman added that over the last 15 years, 2.5 billion pounds had been invested in new gas-fired and renewable power generation capacity by generators responding to price signals. "So, there is firm evidence to show that the market has effectively replaced 40 percent of our generation fleet from 1990 to the present day," he said, adding that there was still no room for complacency. A spokesman for National Grid also said Logica's assessment of the power supply outlook was not shared by the grid operator. LogicaCMG said over 108 billion pounds ($204.7 billion), or 3,700 pounds for every working adult in the country, could be wiped off Britain's gross domestic product each year from 2015."Action needs to be taken now to reduce the energy gap," LogicaCMG's energy director, Kieron Brennan, said in a statement. "We all need to use energy more efficiently and the Government will have to take steps to resolve this issue. If this doesn't happen, it is almost certain that the power will go off and businesses will lose money." AEP, which represents companies that produce about 90 percent of Britain's power supply, calculates that about 20 billion pounds of new investment is needed by 2020, and that 17 plants worth about 7 billion pounds are already planned. 22.11.06