The ESB has revealed for the first time the four worst performing power stations of the 19 plants it operates in the Republic, writes Emmet Oliver
Two stations at Poolbeg, Dublin, one at Great Island, Co Wexford, and one at Tarbert, Co Kerry, are the stations with the poorest records of availability at present, a senior ESB manager explained yesterday. The Poolbeg site hosts several separate power stations.
Director of generation Pat Doherty said the company was doing all it could to boost the performance of the four plants. At present, 82 per cent of all ESB plants are available to generate power at any one time, but the company is anxious to increase this figure to 86 per cent.
The names of the stations were disclosed during a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.
The issue of availability has been a controversial one for the company over recent years.
Some observers have blamed the poor availability of older ESB stations for shortages in national capacity during key periods. However, the company claims that supply has been so tight it has had little opportunity to carry out maintenance at the plants.
The plants mentioned during the meeting are among the oldest in Europe. For example, Tarbert and the original Poolbeg station date back to the 1970s, while the oil-fired plant at Great Island dates back to 1967. Power plants can last for several decades, but if not maintained regularly their performance is seriously impaired.
The names of the plants were disclosed during a presentation on the electricity market by ESB chief executive Padraig McManus, who was accompanied by several senior executives.
Mr McManus told the meeting he believed electricity prices would fall by 4 per cent once an all-island market was set up, some time in 2007. But he said in the meantime there was no way to insulate customers from the escalating costs of oil, gas and, to a lesser extent, coal.
He said people needed to understand that in many large countries the electricity companies were partly insulated from rises in these areas. He said this was because these countries depended heavily on hydro and nuclear.
Also appearing before the committee were large users of electricity like Intel and Cavan-based company Wellman International. Intel's Ireland government affairs manager Karina Howley told the committee Intel Ireland used to benefit from low electricity prices but this was no longer the case.
"The spiralling cost of power means that our cost base from a utilities perspective is getting to unacceptable levels and is positioning Ireland as an unattractive and uncompetitive location to do business," she said.
Meanwhile, the Government has put the contract to supply electricity and gas to several Government facilities out to tender.
Earlier this year contracts for several large sites, including hospitals and prisons, were put out to tender. These were won by a variety of companies, including Energia, the supply arm of Viridian and ESB Independent Energy, the ring-fenced retail business of the ESB.
