Gas fuels 55% of power generation despite outages

More than four times as much coal and over twice as much oil has been used in power generation this year compared to 2020 as two major natural gas plants have been off grid for extended periods for maintenance.

The Huntstown plant in Dublin and Whitegate in Cork have been offline since the start of the year.

But gas still accounted for 55 per cent of the electricity generated in the State in August, according to figures published on Wednesday by Gas Networks Ireland, with wind power improving from a July lull to account for 22 per cent of power.

At its peak, gas provided 82 per cent of electricity during the month, with a low of 23 per cent. Wind varied from less than 1 per cent to just more than 69 per cent, while coal’s contribution ranged between zero and 18 per cent.

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The contribution of electricity imports from the UK dropped significantly to under 6 per cent during the month.

Demand rising

Demand for gas rose across most sectors of the economy as Covid-19 restrictions were eased. Gas demand from offices grew by 15 per cent on July, although it is still down 14 per cent on demand in August 2019 before the Covid pandemic. With Government advice to work from home now being phased out, this is expected to rise.

Demand from the retail sector also continues to show strong signs, up 30 per cent on the same time last year and 31 per cent ahead of the August 2019 numbers.

So far this year, demand for gas is up across a number of sectors, Gas Networks Ireland said, including travel (23 per cent), leisure (21 per cent), construction (18 per cent), manufacturing (12 per cent), hospitals (10 per cent) and pharma (7 per cent).

However, despite the surge in demand so far this year, the August figure for the construction sector is 38 per cent below the same month in 2019, with leisure down 22 per cent, manufacturing 27 per cent weaker and travel off 6 per cent from August 2019 figures.

Residential sector

Demand from the residential sector is up 19 per cent and the pharma sector tapping 9 per cent more than this time two years ago..

"We are seeing most sectors of the economy reopening," said Brian Mullins, acting head of regulatory affairs at Gas Networks Ireland. "This, combined with a drop in temperatures, has seen gas demand continue to rise month-on-month. We expect to see further growth in the coming months in line with normal demand patterns."