Bord Gáis considers 34 towns for connection

BORD GÁIS is considering 34 towns across Ireland for connection to the natural gas network.

This comes at a time when the company is also finalising plans to deal with an emergency gas supply situation in Ireland.

A decision on which towns are suitable for a connection is expected to be made this autumn.

Consideration is given as to how much gas supply is needed in each town, the cost of setting up a connection, new housing developments and expected revenue that would be generated.

The towns being considered under phase three of a natural gas roll-out include Killarney, Tralee, Listowel, Newcastle West,

Macroom, Clonakilty, Nenagh, Castleblayney, Carrick- on-Shannon and Bundoran.

Last year Bord Gáis decided that six towns would be considered for connection at a cost of €23 million and, under phase one of the study, 11 towns along the route of the Mayo-Galway pipeline showed viability.

Meanwhile, the company is in discussions with EirGrid on developing a security of standard for Ireland, to ensure there are adequate procedures in place to manage a supply emergency on both the gas and electricity systems.

Bord Gáis said the market in the republic could probably survive for a five to seven-day period during winter conditions in the event of the loss of British supplies.