The T-4 Capacity Market auction closed yesterday at a clearing price of £22.50.

The price was slightly above that of the last two years, but well below the hopes of those who were looking for a level of at least £30 to incentivise new large-scale CCGTs. Over 9GW of CCGT exited the auction. Two new large gas plants will go ahead: Kings Lynn (CCGT) and Spalding (OCGT)

A total of 69,777.050MW entered the auction, of which 75.13% (52,425.302MW) provisionally received Capacity Agreements for delivery in 2020/21. Final results will be published on 20 December.

The split was as follows: 22,596MW of CCGT, 4,407MW of CHP, 6,090MW of coal, 711MW of hydro, 7,878MW of nuclear, 819MW of OCGT and reciprocating engines, 679MW of diesel, 2,290MW of gas engines, 3,201MW of storage, 2,342MW of interconnectors, and 1,411MW of demand side response.

Storage comprised 6% of the total. That included large pumped storage projects, but also around 1GW of other projects. These ranged from four 9MW battery installations from Green Hedge Energy Barn, up to installations of 48MW.

Some new large gas projects, like Calon Energy’s proposed CCGT at Willington, exited the auction. However Centrica announced plans to go ahead with a 370MW CCGT at King’s Lynn, along with two 50MW smaller gas-fired plants, at Peterborough and Brigg, following the auction. Centrica will also install 49MW of battery storage at Roosecote in Cumbria.