Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
115. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the number of system alerts previously known as amber alerts on the electricity system in the past three years; the date of each alert; the number of such alerts between 2010 and 2020; the cause of the individual alerts; the steps that were taken to mitigate against each threat; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43689/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Transmission System Operator for Electricity in Ireland advises that it has issued the following number of amber alerts in Ireland in recent years
|
2017 |
1 |
|
2018 |
0 |
|
2019 |
0 |
|
2020 |
3 |
|
2021 |
6 |
|
2022(to date) |
8 |
Eirgrid has advised that the greatest risk manifests at times of very low to zero wind and low imports from Great Britain. In such a scenario Eirgrid utilise the tools available to manage the supply-demand relationship. These include trading with their counterparts in Great Britain across the interconnectors, bringing on demand-side units and asking large customers to use their on-site generation.
The CRU supported by Eirgrid and my Department currently has a programme of actions underway to ensure the security of our electricity supply over the coming winters. The Security of Supply Programme of actions contains a number of both demand and supply side mitigation measures to address the forecasted shortfall. These actions include; procurement of new, enduring capacity through a number of capacity auctions; procuring additional temporary generation; extending the availability of existing generation capacity; additional use of grid-scale batteries; and improved demand side measures. On 27 June 2022, the CRU published an update on the actions within the programme and this is available on their website.
