Sale of ESB assets could affect long-term competition: Report

The International Energy Agency has expressed reservations about the Government’s plans for a limited sale of non-strategic ESB assets which it warned could affect on sustainable long-term competition in the energy market.

In a major review of Ireland’s energy policy, the IEA said the further sale of more of the ESB’s non-core generation assets would lead to greater flexibility and competition in the energy market.

Although the report, which was published yesterday, welcomed the Government’s plans to sell Bord Gáis’s retail division and some of ESB’s non-strategic generation assets, it remarked on the high level of the State’s ownership of energy companies, which also include Bord na Móna and Coillte.