Ireland ‘must be open about energy’

IRELAND has been warned it must be more open about electricity transmission and coordinate better with the British energy market to help make energy production and use more efficient.

The European Commission sent a first warning to the state yesterday about interconnectors.

However, the Commissioner for Energy Regulation says that it may be very difficult to conform to the EU’s demands.

Ireland’s only electricity interconnection is with Northern Ireland, but in effect both parts of the island have a single transmission system under the all-island electricity market.

An official said that the only solution to the commission’s request may be to convince them to treat the Irish situation as unique.

Under the EU definition there is an interconnector between north and south, but according to the Irish authorities this is a transmission system.