Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 November 2005
154 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if there are issues surrounding the security of supply in the upcoming winter months in view of the serious power cuts experienced recently at Wexford General Hospital and concerns in Britain regarding the wholesale gas market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34358/05]
View answerIreland's modest domestic energy resources and the geographic distance from other countries make security of supply an especially important issue. Assuring security of electricity supply requires a multifaceted approach with an optimal supply mix.
Responsibility for security of supply in the electricity sector rests by law since February 2005 with the energy regulator, the Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, assuming the key monitoring and oversight role, aided by the transmission system operator and the Department. This responsibility includes greater powers to act to secure and enhance supply. Specifically, the CER is empowered to take any measures necessary to protect security of supply. In addition, the transmission system operator, TSO, is required by law to advise the CER if there is a threat to security of electricity supply and make recommendations as to measures to cover peak demands and to deal with shortfalls in capacity. The supply demand balance for the coming winter is tight but CER continues to monitor the situation very closely.
As demonstrated by international and domestic blackout events, no electricity power system can be fully protected from all eventualities. Likewise, no system can guarantee that there will be no disruption to electricity supply. Nonetheless, Ireland has an exemplary record and no system wide outage has occurred in the Irish power system to date.
I am informed by the ESB that the incident last month at Wexford Hospital was initially caused by climatic conditions but the ensuing problems with the back-up system were due to a fault in the hospital's own generator and switching gear and not between the ESB substation and the hospital. I have been apprised of the comments made by the UK Minister for Energy in respect of the outlook for UK gas supplies this winter. Bilateral contact between my Department and the Department of Industry in the UK has clarified that Minister Wicks recently sounded a note of caution for UK businesses that do not book firm gas supplies and capacities in advance. Such businesses may face interruption of supplies in the event of colder than average weather conditions. The choice between booking firm or interruptible gas supplies is a commercial decision for individual businesses.
The UK National Grid's winter outlook report was published in October. It concluded that under average winter weather conditions, gas supplies and power generation capacities are sufficient to meet all demand for gas and electricity. If winter weather conditions are extremely cold, then there is a programme in place in the UK to reduce gas demand without leading to power cuts.
In Ireland, the Commission for Energy Regulation has responsibility for monitoring on an ongoing basis the security of natural gas supply. The commission publishes an annual gas capacity statement. This provides a forecast of capacity, flows and customer demand to assess the adequacy of the Irish gas transmission system. The gas capacity statement also considers whether projected supplies of gas from indigenous sources, imports and storage are sufficient to meet forecast demand. A key finding of the 2005 gas capacity statement is that even under unusually cold weather conditions, the Irish gas transmission system will cope with forecast demand.
