The planned launch of a single all island electricity market has been delayed for four months, following a review by the regulators in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
'Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Noel Dempsey, and Secretary of State, Peter Hain, today endorsed the recommendation from the Regulatory Authorities to extend the 'go-live' date for the Single Electricity Market (SEM),' according to a statement today.
The two regulators had set July 1, 2007 as the 'go-live' date for wholesale electricity trading, which is expected to reduce power generation costs.
However, following consultation with transmission system operators and the industry, that will be put back by four months to allow for extensive market testing and implementation.
'Both government's remain committed to delivering the necessary legislation in advance of July 2007 to underpin implementation of the new market in the run up to day one,' Minister Dempsey said.
'This extra time will ensure that the challenges associated with the implementation of these complex arrangements are fully addressed for all parties including most importantly customers and market participants,' he added.
