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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/dec/11/diesel-farms-built-subsidies-national-grid-auction
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Pollution fears as £150m subsidy is poured into back-up diesel power | Pollution fears as £150m subsidy is poured into back-up diesel power |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| New heavy-polluting “diesel farms” will be built with more than £150m worth of subsidies under a “capacity market” auction run for the government aimed at keeping the lights on. | New heavy-polluting “diesel farms” will be built with more than £150m worth of subsidies under a “capacity market” auction run for the government aimed at keeping the lights on. |
| The National Grid confirmed on Friday morning that it had ended the auction having secured the 45 gigawatts (GW) of back-up power generation it wants for peak periods starting in 2019 at a price of £18 per kilowatt year, slightly lower than during the first auction last year. | The National Grid confirmed on Friday morning that it had ended the auction having secured the 45 gigawatts (GW) of back-up power generation it wants for peak periods starting in 2019 at a price of £18 per kilowatt year, slightly lower than during the first auction last year. |
| The government has been heavily criticised for allowing the involvement of diesel farms – and coal stations – at a time when ministers are in Paris promising to lower CO2 emissions as part of a new climate change treaty. | The government has been heavily criticised for allowing the involvement of diesel farms – and coal stations – at a time when ministers are in Paris promising to lower CO2 emissions as part of a new climate change treaty. |
| The Grid published details showing energy companies had won contracts to build 575MW of new diesel-driven capacity at a price of about £155m, according to Sandbag, which campaigns to reduce CO2 emissions. | The Grid published details showing energy companies had won contracts to build 575MW of new diesel-driven capacity at a price of about £155m, according to Sandbag, which campaigns to reduce CO2 emissions. |
| Gas-fired power stations had won half of the contracts but no energy companies had put forward plans to build new gas facilities as the government hoped. | Gas-fired power stations had won half of the contracts but no energy companies had put forward plans to build new gas facilities as the government hoped. |
| There are also contracts for an unspecified number of coal-fired power stations, despite promises from the government that they would be phased out as too polluting. | There are also contracts for an unspecified number of coal-fired power stations, despite promises from the government that they would be phased out as too polluting. |
| Related: Heavily polluting 'diesel farms' to make millions from subsidies, IPPR warns | Related: Heavily polluting 'diesel farms' to make millions from subsidies, IPPR warns |
| Dustin Benton, head of energy and resources at the Green Alliance thinktank, said: “Amber Rudd deserves praise for deciding to phase out coal, and it’s now clear that she needs to reform our outdated capacity market. | |
| “Continuing to give hundreds of millions of pounds to coal is perverse and unnecessary. The UK can keep the lights on without coal if we get rid of the capacity market’s bias against demand response and push ahead with new energy efficiency policy.” | “Continuing to give hundreds of millions of pounds to coal is perverse and unnecessary. The UK can keep the lights on without coal if we get rid of the capacity market’s bias against demand response and push ahead with new energy efficiency policy.” |