Vol. 574 No. 1
172 Mr. Murphy asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the emergency measures which are in place within his Department to deal with a major blackout in the electricity grid, in view of the recent major blackouts in the US, Italy and the UK; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26382/03]
192 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the steps being taken to ensure the security and the adequacy of the electricity supply having regard to serious power collapses in a number of countries; if, in particular, his attention has been drawn to concerns expressed by the electricity regulator that proposed limits on environmental emissions could lead to blackouts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26287/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 172 and 192 together.
Major electricity blackouts are usually the result of a number of contingencies, including generation shortages, transmission network failures and operational difficulties. While no electricity power system can be fully protected from such events, I am satisfied that measures are in place to reduce as far as possible the risk of a major blackout occurring on our power system and to maintain security of supply.
The Commission for Energy Regulation continues to monitor the security of supply situation and has initiated a number of positive actions to redress postulated generation capacity shortfalls in the short-term and the medium to long-term, as forecast by ESB National Grid in its most recent generation adequacy report. Short-term measures put in place include the implementation by ESB National Grid of a demand side management programme operational for the coming winter; increased imports of electricity from Northern Ireland, together with the purchase by ESB of 104 MW of additional peaking capacity operational from 1 January 2004.
As to the capacity deficit in the medium to longer term, the CER is holding a competition for the award of contracts for up to 531 MW additional generation capacity to be announced in early December.
The ESB is currently undertaking a significant networks investment programme, of some €4 billion up to 2007, to bring the transmission and distribution systems up to required international standards and to meet projected capacity demand requirements. The programme is being delivered within the planned timeframe and budget.
In the event of an emergency situation, the transmission system operator, as part of its licence conditions, has in place a number of specific emergency plans to deal with the incident quickly and effectively. These include power system restoration and capacity shortfall plans which involve, inter alia, matching supply to demand by load shedding while prioritising supply to critical users such as hospitals.
