EirGrid

Dec 2, 2022

Risks to the Irish power system this winter have doubled, according to an EU electricity agency. Ireland faces up to 14.56 hours without electricity this winter if no attempts are made to cut demand, said the European association for the cooperation of transmission system operators for electricity (ENTSO-E) in its winter outlook report. The figure is up from 6.25 hours in ENTSO-E’s October report. If Irish people cut peak time energy use by 5pc, the risk of power outages falls to 9.25 hours, although “notable risks” remain, it said. It means Ireland faces the second-highest risk in Europe, after France, in terms of “system adequacy” – whether there is enough electricity supply to meet demand. Adequacy risks were also identified in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Malta and Cyprus, with risks increasing in the months of January and February. “Adequacy in Ireland and Northern Ireland is elevated due to ageing gas conventional power plants demonstrating low reliability and often being on unplanned outage,” the outlook said. “Nevertheless, there is considerable wind generation and if wind conditions are good, adequacy issues should be avoided.” The report revealed the Irish power system has entered an “alert state” seven times since last winter, meaning there was a “reasonable possibility” of outages. Disruptions to nuclear power generation in France, Finland or Sweden, and coal supply issues in Germany or Poland could also affect Ireland, the report said. The outage estimates are far lower than those forecast by EirGrid, Ireland’s energy network operator. Irish consumers face 51 hours of outage over the five-month winter period, according to EirGrid’s winter outlook, published in October. That means individual customers could face an average of four hours without power over the winter, EirGrid said. Last winter the estimated shortage – or “loss of load expectation” – was 17.4 hours. Business Newsletter