Auction of power near end

An auction of electricity to industrial suppliers will close next Friday when the Commissioner for Electricity Regulation accepts bids for a final tranche of energy available in the newly deregulated power market.

Mr Tom Reeves revealed yesterday that the same three companies who secured power in the auction's first round were successful in the second round held last Friday.

In addition to the ESB's "independent" supply unit, these are ePower and the North's former state monopoly, Viridian, which trades as Energia. EPower is controlled by Esat's founder, Mr Denis O'Brien.

The amount of power secured by the three groups from the 489 megawatts (MW) already auctioned is not yet known. Some 115 MW of the 126 MW were sold in the second round last Friday.

But two well placed industry insiders said they believed ePower had taken an aggressive stance in the process. Citing a confidentiality clause, its spokeswoman declined to comment when asked how much electricity ePower had secured in the auction.

The companies will resell power secured in the auction to their customers, creating a market base before their own generation plants are built.

The auction is seen as crucial to the opening of the power market, although only industrial users will gain from cheaper supplies in the partly liberalised market.