ESB sources yesterday claimed that the State could be face electricity shortages in the next two years because a decision on a large power station proposed by the ESB has been deferred. An Bord Pleanala has decided a planning appeal lodged against the company's £200 million, 400-megawatt, gas-fired station earmarked for Pigeon House Road, Ringsend, Co Dublin, is unlikely to be dealt with until next year.
In a letter sent to the company, it said a significant increase in planning appeals in recent months meant a decision was unlikely to be taken any earlier.
A decision on another major electricity project planned for the State, by Viridian and CRH, has also been deferred by An Bord Pleanala until February 18th. This project involves a 600 megawatt plant at Huntstown quarry, near Finglas, at an estimated cost of £300 million. The ESB has stated several times that it is close to capacity and with electricity demand increasing by about 5 per cent annually, power cuts by the winter of 2001 are a strong possibility, according to electricity sources.
If the ESB had received planning permission before September, it had hoped to have the Ringsend plant commissioned by the winter of 2001, but because the decision has been deferred, the station is unlikely to be completed until early 2002, according to sources.
The failure to commission up to 1,000 megawatts before the winter of 2001 was described as a "crucial setback" by industry sources yesterday. "Supplies are going to get extremely tight next year and the winter of 2001 looks bleak because there is no chance the new Ringsend plant will be up and running in time," one source said. The objectors to the CRH/Viridian project are local residents who are opposed to the plant on environmental grounds. The objectors to the Ringsend project include a company called Fabrizia Developments, which is associated with the property development company, Zoe Developments.
It owns 12.2 acres of land near the proposed power station. It said in its planning appeal that the station would adversely affect the development potential of its site on the South Bank Road, which runs close to the site. Also objecting is former Dublin City councillor, Mr Sean Dublin Bay Loftus.