UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Tom Sprange KC, Andrea Stauber, Martina Antosova and Lucy Pearson, King & Spalding International LLP
2.4 Market Concentration Limits The CMA has the jurisdiction to examine a merger where two or more businesses cease to be distinct and either: • the UK turnover of the acquired enterprise exceeds GBP100 million; • the two businesses supply or acquire at least 25% of the same goods or services supplied in the UK and the merger increases that share of supply and at least one of the merging enterprises has a UK turnover of more than GBP10 million; or • at least one of the merging parties has an existing share of supply of 33% in the UK or in a part of the UK, the total value of the turnover in the UK of that party exceeds GBP350 million, and the other party has a UK nexus. The CMA and Ofgem both enforce prohibitions on abuse of a dominant position and make market investigation references within the gas and electricity industries. 2.5 Surveillance to Detect Anti-Competitive Behaviour The CMA shares concurrent powers with Ofgem to enforce prohibitions on anti-competitive agreements and make market investigation references within the gas and electricity industries. 3. Generation Facilities 3.1 Constructing and Operating Generation Facilities The construction and operation of generation facili- ties is principally governed by the Electricity Act 1989. Specific authorisations required will depend on the size, nature and location of the generation facilities. Section 6 of the Electricity Act 1989 (as amended by Section 186 of the Energy Act 2023) lays down the procedures in respect of the grant, extension or restriction of electricity licences. Unless one of two exemptions applies, an electricity generator must issue an application to Ofgem for a generation licence, which may be granted under Section 6 (1)(a) of the Electricity Act 1989.
• As an alternative to the cap and floor model, developers can seek exemptions from regulatory requirements. Under this route, developers would face the full upside and downside of the invest- ment and would usually apply for an exemption from certain regulatory requirements to better enable the business case of their investment. All interconnection capacity is allocated to the market via market-based methods (ie, auctions) and the trad- ing arrangements on electricity interconnectors are governed by access rules and charging methodolo- gies contained within each interconnector’s licence. Imports and exports typically occur when there is sur- plus renewable electricity. The National Grid states that, by 2030, 90% of the energy imported by inter- connectors will be from zero-carbon energy sources. 2.3 Supply Mix of Electricity In May 2026, Great Britain’s supply mix was:
• gas – 23%; • wind – 25%;
• nuclear – 11%; • biomass – 9%; • solar – 12%; • imports – 18%; • hydro – 0.9%; and • storage – 1%.
49% of electricity came from zero-carbon sources. This represented an increase of approximately three percentage points compared to the supply mix in April 2025. In Northern Ireland, for the 12-month period from Jan- uary 2025 to December 2025, 47% of total electricity consumption was generated from renewable sources. This represented an increase of approximately three percentage points from the previous 12-month period. The vast majority (72%) of renewable energy gener- ated within Northern Ireland came from wind sources.
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