Cork and Dublin power plants to reopen this winter in plan to avoid rolling blackouts

The refinery in Whitegate where an offline plant will be back up and running by the winter. File picture: Eddie O'Hare

The parts needed to reopen two power plants in Dublin and Cork are expected to arrive in October and November, increasing confidence that Ireland will avoid rolling blackouts this winter.

Warnings in June from national grid operator EirGrid prompted Environment Minister Eamon Ryan to sign off on a plan to import and rent six gas-powered generators, producing an additional 200MW of energy at a brownfield site in Dublin.