I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. The purpose of the Bill is to authorise the increase to £160 million of the existing statutory limit of £135 million on the capital expenditure which the Electricity Supply Board may incur for general purposes, that is to say, exclusive of capital expenditure on the electrification of rural areas.
At 31st March, 1963, the actual capital expenditure of the Electricity Supply Board for general purposes was about £97 million. In addition, the Board had entered into commitments for the same purposes amounting to approximately £37 million. The total of £134 million covers expenditure already incurred and expenditure likely to be incurred on foot of present commitments up to 1968/69. It includes provision for 470 megawatts of generating plant yet to be commissioned. It is expected that all this additioinal plant will have been commissioned by 1969 and the Board's generating capacity will then be 1289.5 megawatts, of which 219 megawatts will be hydro, 407.5 megawatts peat-fired, 15 megawatts fired by native coal and the remainder of 648 megawatts fired by imported coal or oil.
The Board must plan system extensions well in advance, especially generating plant extensions. The Board must, in fact, be in a position to enter into commitments in the immediate future in respect of additional plant and equipment which will be required after 1969. As the total of the Board's expenditure and commitments is now approaching the limit of £135 million set by the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1962 which was passed in July, 1962, the authority of the Oireachtas to the raising of this limit to £160 million is now being sought.
Deputies will recall that I said when moving the Second Reading of the 1962 Bill that the limit of £135 million was expected to cover the commitments likely to be entered into for the next two years or so. At that time the ESB were assuming an 8 per cent per annum rate of growth in the demand for electricity. The Board are still working on an annual growth figure of 8 per cent long term but they have found that they must be equipped to deal in the short term with annual growth rates exceeding 10 per cent. For example, in the year to November, 1962, i.e. before the onset of the very bad weather, the growth rate was 10 per cent. To meet the load situation which would develop with an accelerated growth rate of that order the Board have decided that three instead of two extra 60 megawatt generating sets must be installed at Ringsend thus bringing the capacity of that station in 1966/67 to 270 megawatts. Commitments in respect of the extra 60 megawatt set at that station, which must be entered into immediately, practically exhaust the Board's authority to incur capital expenditure for general purposes and this explains why it is necessary to seek the approval of the Oireachtas to increase the limit at least a year earlier than had been expected.
On the basis of their forecast of a long-term rate of growth in the demand for electricity of 8 per cent per annum, the Board expect that further capital investment amounting to about £27 million will arise for approval in the next three years. The construction of about 200 megawatt of additional generating capacity and large extensions of the transmission and distribution system are envisaged.
It is expected that all bogs suitable for economic development by present methods for power station fuel will be in production by about 1970. Power stations have already been sited on all the rivers capable of being developed economically for hydro-electricity generation, and, while the collection of data on other water power resources is continuing, no significant additions to generating capacity can be expected from them. The possibility of using the indicated reserves of high ash coal known as crow coal in the Arigna area as fuel for an extension of the Arigna generating station is still under investigation but, in any event, the amount of additional generating capacity which could be based on the Arigna coalfield is insignificant in relation to future generating plant requirements. Unless, therefore, we should have the good fortune that adequate and economically workable reserves of oil or natural gas are discovered in the country, we must rely on imported conventional fuel or nuclear energy when that becomes economic to supply energy for new generating stations commissioned after 1970.
The ESB continue to watch developments in the application of nuclear power for electricity production, but so far conventional methods of generation are cheaper.
The unprecedentedly heavy demand for electricity experienced during the prolonged spell of severe weather last winter taxed the Board's generating system to the limit. It was only by calling on every available generating unit, including the stand-by plant at the Pigeon House which had to be worked well beyond its rated output, that the Board was able to maintain supply throughout this period. Early in February the peak load reached a record high level of 632 m.w. The difficulty of maintaining supply was accentuated by the widespread damage to transmission and distribution lines caused by blizzards during this period. The extent to which the Board succeeded in maintaining the supply of electricity during this period was really an outstanding achievement and I am sure that Deputies will agree that the Board's staff concerned are deserving of heartiest congratulations for the excellent services rendered by them.
