There is an urgent need for investment and good planning if Irish consumers are not to suffer the kind of power failures that blacked out parts of Italy earlier this year. And yet, the Government has failed to take the kind of innovative action that will guarantee future supplies and minimise our dependency on expensive, imported fuels. It is not a new problem.
Former minister for public enterprise, Mrs Mary O'Rourke, presided over an administrative shambles when she was forced by the EU Commission to deregulate the electricity market and to encourage competition with the ESB in the late 1990s. And her successor, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Dermot Ahern, has been somewhat lackadaisical in getting to grips with problems in the industry.
Irish consumers have been extraordinarily lucky, so far, in avoiding winter blackouts. The last government failed to plan for the surge in electricity demand that accompanied the growth of the so-called Celtic Tiger, even though it had been anticipated in 1997 by Professor John FitzGerald of the ESRI. When the ESB warned that serious power cuts and blackouts could occur in 2001 and 2002 the Government, in desperation, agreed to the importation of temporary US generators at huge expense. Even that measure might not have bridged the gap between supply and demand. But the closure of the Irish Steel plant in Cork, which had been a very large user of electricity, made a significant difference.
As part of the deregulation package, the ESB was split into two units, one dealing with electricity generation while the other was given responsibility for the grid. Eirgrid, still owned by the ESB but under separate management, has invested heavily in recent years in upgrading the national network. But no money has been spent on a vitally-needed, interconnector link with Britain even though, five years ago, the company asked the Government to draw up a "wind code" that would protect the stability of the grid from a fluctuation in wind energy supply. Now, the consequences of delay are becoming clear.
Three months ago, the regulator of the industry, Mr Tom Reeves, placed an embargo on any further wind power contracts at Eirgrid's behest because fluctuations in wind energy supply could damage the network. Earlier this week, Eirgrid published a controversial study suggesting that wind energy could drive up the cost of electricity and demanded urgent decisions from the Government. The way to resolve this problem and encourage the production of renewable energy is to establish an interconnector with the British/EU grid. Last January, Mr Ahern made the construction of such a link a priority. Since then he has invited private companies to tender for two interconnectors and said the Government wanted to "test the market". It is not the kind of urgency the situation requires. The demand for electricity is growing quickly. We must meet it or suffer blackouts.