The Taoiseach has given update on the risk to Irish energy supplies this winter and said that the government is working “to ensure secure supplies of electricity for Ireland for the coming winter.”
Speaking in the Dail today, Micheal Martin addressed concerns among Irish people over the rise in energy prices, and the risk of a ‘winter blackout’ across the country as the wholesale cost of energy increases.
Labour leader Alan Kelly asked Mr Martin: “Will you... guarantee that we won’t have any outages of power over this winter?”
The Taoiseach said: “The government no longer actually has legal power to just directly intervene and do what it likes in terms of the energy markets.”
He went on to say that there is a “short to medium term risk to energy security of supply.”
Mr Martin referenced the regulatory framework governing the electricity supply, run by the Commission for Regulation and Utilities (CRU) and EirGrid.
He said he was notified of “an increased likelihood of more frequent system alerts, system emergencies, potential for some electricity customers to lose power in 2021, 2022 winters if action wasn’t taken”
“The Department and the Minister (are) working very closely with the Commission for Regulation and Utilities and EirGrid... to address the issue.”
He added that the government is also aware of the need for more renewable energy sources as the energy supply crisis continues.
“The Commission for Regulation and Utilities and EirGrid are working on that… in terms of procuring additional supply.”
Electricity demand is predicted to increase by up to 43% in the next decade, a demand described as “unlike anything Ireland has seen in the past 100 years” by the CRU.
CRU and Eirgrid experts have previously warned of the dangers of the growing pressure on the Irish grid, with “significant increases” in industrial demand, more electric cars and the move away from gas and coals in homes adding to the growing potential crisis.
Energy prices are being hiked up as providers like Electric Ireland, Bord Gais, Flogas, Energia and SSE Airtricity as a result of unprecedented increases in wholesale costs and a huge demand for gas and electricity.
So far, there have been 31 price hikes from energy supplies this year.
