Blackout fears ease as power plant back in action  

The Whitegate plant, which has also been out of action, 'will return very soon'. Picture: Teneo

Fears of blackouts over the winter have eased somewhat with confirmation that the Huntstown gas-fired power plant returned to operation over the weekend.

Huntstown in Dublin, along with Whitegate in Cork, had been out of action due to mechanical faults, prompting the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) to seek an alternative €150m plan for mobile generators. However, when that plan was abandoned in August, fears of blackouts were raised.