EPower, the electricity company part-owned by Esat founder Mr Denis O'Brien, is investing about £100 million (€127 million) to take a 40 per cent stake in a west Dublin electricity generation plant. The plant is being developed by BP Amoco and Ireland Power, a group controlled by US businessman Mr Larry Thomas.
Separately, a consortium owned by British Gas and US energy group Keyspan said it was preparing to award contracts for the design of its proposed gas interconnector linking Dublin and Belfast.
Premier Transmission said it had received expressions of interest from nine energy companies to take gas from its pipeline.
EPower's move comes as the Commissioner for Electricity Regulation, Mr Tom Reeves, prepares to allocate gas from the Bord Gais Eireann network to groups proposing to build gas-fired generation stations in the newly deregulated electricity market. A bill sanctioning the allocation passed the second stage in the Dail yesterday.
Those planning to build power plants must apply to Mr Reeves for gas from the network because its excess capacity is limited. Mr Reeves' allocation to two or three proposed power stations will be made on a "first to commission" basis, although many industry figures believe this will be very difficult to define.
But ePower, which claims to have secured contracts to supply up to 70 industrial users of electricity, was unlikely to be successful in this allocation. This is because it has yet to receive planning permission at its proposed generation station at Navan, Co Meath, unlike a number of competing groups - including BP/ Ireland Power.
Construction contracts for the Powerstown generation plant at Mulhuddart, west Dublin, were likely to be awarded next month, an Ireland Power spokeswoman said. The privately-owned group originally proposed building the plant with Scottish Power. In the latest ownership structure, BP Amoco and ePower will own 40 per cent each of the £250 million plant, with Ireland Power owning the remaining 20 per cent.
Meanwhile, Premier Transmission's chairman, Mr Jim Rooney, said the group would need to secure compulsory purchase orders before moving ahead with its investment. While Premier had entered discussions with Bord Gais to transport gas on its network, Bord Gais had yet to set its use of system charges, he said.
