Dempsey decision on Aghada set to be overturned

A KEY element of the Government’s energy white paper, presided over by embattled minister Noel Dempsey, looks set to be overturned.

The minister in his then department, marine and natural resources, insisted at the start of this year that the new €300 million Aghada Power plant in Cork could only be built as long as its output was made available to another supplier and was not sold directly to ESB customers.

However, ESB unions have pointed out an anomaly — under the new all-island market which came into affect at midnight last night, all power stations north and south over 10 megawatts had to offer their electricity into a central pool. Electricity grid management companies Eirgrid in the Republic and SONI in the North would then decide on a market price before deciding from which plants to take the electricity.

The unions pointed out that surely meant Aghada’s production must be offered to the grid.

When this was put yesterday to Mr Dempsey’s successor Eamon Ryan at the launch of the all-island electricity market yesterday, he was forced to refer it back to his department.

Later a spokesman said: “The output from Aghada is subject to ongoing discussion between the department and the Commission for Energy Regulation.”

A U-turn by the Government on this would be the second time a decision by Mr Dempsey has run into trouble in the space of a week. Last week he announced that all learner drivers on second provisional license would not be allowed to drive unaccompanied from October 30. A few days later and his new department, transport, was forced to engage in a climbdown from its position and defer the implementation of that ruling.

Meanwhile, Mr Ryan yesterday claimed the all-island electricity market was a “historic moment” which would lead to reduced prices to the consumer.

From midnight last night, 2.5 million electricity customers began to receive electricity from across the island.