Energy blackouts this winter 'can never be ruled out', Department of Environment says

Temporary generators were among the solutions considered after the CRU and EirGrid warned that Ireland's demand for electricity would exceed supply this winter. However, that plan has now been shelved in favour of bringing back two offline plants, in Dublin and Cork. File picture

The Department of the Environment insists it is taking sufficient steps to avoid rolling blackouts this winter but admitted a shortage of electricity supply “can never be ruled out”.

With increased threats to the electricity grid, the department said it plans to increase the availability of existing generators; develop new generation capacity and introduce changes to the grid connection of data centres as it battles to keep the lights on.