Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 31 January 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities

Mr. John Melvin:

There was a lot of wind over the Christmas period and right into the New Year. The two peaks were hit on 12 and 14 December. On 12 December, there was 500 MW of wind, which is much less than the installed capacity. It was, therefore, a combination of cold which increased demand, and wind which allowed that demand to be met. The weather does then play a role in this regard. Concerns arise where one might have high demand, low renewables supply, a forced outage at a plant that would normally be expected to be online and low imports of energy. A combination of events cause these alerts to come and we did not have that combination of events over the peak period.