Vol. 472 No. 4
155 Ms O'Donnell asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if he proposes to award a contract for the construction of a new peat-fired electricity generating station early in 1997; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23511/96]
A consortium of consultants is at present working on the detailed arrangements for a competition to be held for the peat-fired electricity generating station. The competition will be for the award of a contract for the purchase of electricity from the new power station — the steam of income from the contract will enable the winning bidder to finance the construction and operation of the station, which will be owned by the winning bidder.
The consultants are due to report with their proposals for the competition by the end of this month, and on the basis that their recommendation is accepted, the competition will be held in the new year.
Until the consultants report it will not be possible to say precisely how long the competition will take or when the contract will be awarded — interim indications from the consultants suggest that the winning developer is likely to be identified towards the end of 1997.
