Pressure is building on Irish electricity supplies. Last week’s eclipse prompted national grid operator EirGrid to call on an emergency power plant in Tarbert, Co Kerry, as solar plants shut down and wind power was already scarce.
That was the second time that the grid company had called on one of four such plants in the State to deal with a likely supply shortage. The first was in June when it deployed one in Dublin.
As the name implies, the four gas- and diesel-fuelled facilities are intended for emergencies only. They do not sell electricity to the market, but step in to prevent shortages.
They are also temporary. EirGrid must decommission them once it has procured enough commercially generated electricity to meet demand.
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But one source argues that the State company and the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) risk leaving us dependent on those backstops for years to come.
EirGrid this month told the industry that the Irish system will need power plants capable of generating 6,914 megawatts (MW) of electricity in 2030/31. That is 200MW less than the figure in a similar paper issued a year ago.
This month’s document was a precursor to an auction next March through which companies will agree to build new conventional power stations.
Companies with the cheapest offers get contracts to build power plants. They receive “capacity payments”, funded by consumers, essentially cash for providing the capacity to generate electricity, whether it is needed or not.
This is because the Irish system favours renewables first, so conventional plants that burn fuel such as gas are needed around half the time, but are paid to remain on standby when not required, as they are critical to the security of supply.
Consequently, sources warn that an underestimate of our needs risks leaving us short of electricity going into the next decade.
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EirGrid and System Operator Northern Ireland oversee the auction. The CRU calculates the capacity needed and will set the final amount that it will buy before March.
This creates tension between the regulator and the Republic’s grid company. The CRU has to take the cost to consumers into account, as they fund capacity payments, while EirGrid, which is responsible for ensuring the system has enough electricity, wants as many power plants as possible.
A Government report into a crisis in 2021, which prompted the construction of the four emergency units, highlighted this division of tasks as a potential problem for the system.
One industry professional argues that tackling this is one of several reforms needed to the current approach to procuring new electricity supplies.
He warns that the State agencies face other challenges too, including that growing global demand for electricity means it takes longer to build power plants than before.
Moreover, he notes, as we add more renewables, we need more conventional plants to back them up, but several larger facilities are due to be retired in the next decade, so the longer-term problems are mounting. Another observer puts it more bluntly: “If electricity is getting more scarce, why are we buying less of it?”
