Ireland will have enough electricity generation capacity this winter to maintain a secure supply and avert power shortages, despite rising demand.
According to EirGrid, Ireland's electricity transmission system operator, peak demand for electricity is set to increase by 200 megawatts this winter, the equivalent of 130,000 houses.
For its Winter Outlook Report 2007-2008 Eirgrid examined capacity, plant performance and growth in electricity demand.
It took into account unplanned breakdowns or 'forced outages' at power plants, and it estimates that there will be spare capacity of 602 megawatts on the day of peak demand this winter.
Last year peak demand in the Republic of Ireland was on December 19, when demand went over 5,000 megawatts for the first time, hitting 5,035 megawatts.
EirGrid estimates that this year peak demand will hit 5,250 megawatts.
This extra demand will be met, EirGrid says, by extra wind power, energy from the UK through the North-South interconnector, and Viridian's new generator in Finglas, from which power will be available within a few months.
EirGrid warns, though, that there are significant risks to the power supply - if generation availability fails to meet the expected levels, and if more plants than usual break down.
EirGrid's comments back up a report from the national policy and advisory board Forfás, published last December, which warned that there could be power shortages this and next winter if plants are closed or undergoing maintenance.
EirGrid says no scheduled outages are planned between this November and March 2008.
