National Grid, the British power and gas transmission system operator, has released its 2014 Future Energy Scenarios to 2035 and 2050. Wholesale electricity prices could nearly double between 2013 and 2035 from £40/MWh to £80/MWh in the base case scenario and could even reach £100/MWh in the high scenario; this increase would be linked to decreasing margins resulting of coal-fired plants retirement due to the Large Combustion Plants Directive (LCPD) legislation, and mothball of some gas-fired plants. Wholesale gas price on the NBP is expected to decline until 2020 and to increase slightly between 2020 and 2035 (to £60p/th in the base case and to £1/th in the high case).
By 2030, the annual power demand is expected to range between 322 TWh and 364 TWh, with peak demand ranging between 57 and 63 GW. Total installed capacity could reach 103 GW ("no progression" scenario) but could reach 147 GW in the "gone green" scenario, including 78 GW of renewables, 9 GW of nuclear and 34 GW of gas-fired capacity. Gas demand would range between 279 TWh and 320 TWh by 2030 in the residential sector (between 270 TWh and 851 TWh for total gas consumption).