Current Account »

• Putting the green into greenbacks

  May 22, 2009 @ 9:13 pm | by Barry O'Halloran

  The green economy is getting almost as much coverage as the green shoots of recovery these days.

  This week, the Government “unveiled” a new green energy taskforce whose job it will be to advise on how best Ireland Inc can cash in on this growing phenomenon, which Tanaiste Mary Coughlan says - though she cites no sources – will be worth 950 billion euro globally next year.

  This is not the only political green energy wheeze. There is also a sub-committee of the Oireachtas trade and enterprise committee dedicated to – wait for it – “Job Creation Through use of Renewable Energy Resources”. This was ultimately a Government idea as well, although its membership is drawn from all parties. It’s particularly interested in a project in an obscure Austrian town, Gussing, which produces all its own energy needs from wood – which is in some way linked to the fact that it’s surrounded by forest. (more…)

• Energy bills – the only way is up

  December 1, 2008 @ 7:39 pm | by Barry O'Halloran

  Barry O’Halloran 

  If you no longer have the energy to keep up with, well, energy prices, join the club. Four months ago, there were double figure increases on the way for consumers and small businesses, with more to follow in January. Now, the second round of increases will not happen next month, and there is likely to be a slight fall in electricity charges.

  It’s all down to the price of oil, gas and coal on world markets, with oil being the benchmark. From the point of gas prices, that’s pretty straightforward, Bord Gais, which supplies around half a million households and 1,700 businesses, buys the fuel at market prices and sells it to its customers. As the ESB uses gas, oil and coal, it’s a bit more complex, but the basic rule is that three out of every four euro that the company spends goes on power generation, which requires gas, oil and coal. (more…)

• Low oil prices to put the wind up green energy sector

  November 20, 2008 @ 9:11 pm | by Barry O'Halloran

  Barry O’Halloran

  It’s almost a year since the original backers of Airtricity pocketed large wads of cash after selling the wind farm developer and operator’s assets to two utilities, Eon and Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE).

  They were the biggest deals done by any Irish company last year and this year, and left the group’s founder, Eddie O’Connor, with 50 million euro, and NTR and its shareholders with 800 million.

  Not bad for a business whose operations were largely in the pipeline. Not surprisingly, there are lots of people around Ireland who would like emulate this coup, albeit on a smaller scale. And I mean lots. Ultimately, our electricity system is likely to end up with 5,000 mega watts worth of wind farms. That’s equal to 10 to 12 average-sized conventional power plants, and is roughly the same amount of electricity that is consumed at the very height of peak demand in the Republic. And there are more projects looking for licences than will ever get them.

  (more…)