Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 41: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he is currently monitoring the British wholesale gas market; if there will be a tight supply demand balance in winter 2006; if he expects there to be amber or red alerts in the electricity system in 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33428/06]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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My Department, the Commission for Energy Regulation, and relevant national players keep a close watch on developments, and potential developments, in international energy markets that may impact on the Irish market. This includes developments in the British wholesale gas market.

Responsibility for monitoring the security of Ireland's natural gas supply lies with the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER). Under the Gas (Interim) Regulation Act 2002, the CER is required to prepare an annual Gas Capacity Statement, which provides a 7-year rolling forecast of capacity, flows and customer demand on Ireland's natural gas system. The forecast also assesses, for a range of possible scenarios, whether projected supplies of gas from indigenous sources, imports and storage, are sufficient to meet forecast demand.

One of the main conclusions of the 2006 Gas Capacity Statement, which was published by the CER in July 2006 and covers the period 2006 – 2013, is that the existing Irish gas transmission system is sufficient to cope with reasonable expectations of demand, both on the peak and on the minimum day under most conditions for the period of this Statement.

Furthermore, I am advised by the Commission that it recently met with both the UK Department of Trade and Industry and Ofgem, the UK regulator, and received confirmation that the outlook with respect to gas supplies to the UK, and consequently to Ireland, has improved significantly from earlier on this year due to increasing certainty over key infrastructure developments and the availability of storage facilities in the UK in time for the coming winter period.

As a result, the Commission advises me that it is satisfied there is reasonable certainty over the supplies of imported gas to Ireland this winter, in the context of both gas customers and the power generation sector.

Security of supply in relation to electricity is a matter for the Commission for Energy Regulation in accordance with the provisions of Article 28 of the European Communities (Internal Market in Electricity) Regulations 2005. Article 28 provides that it shall be the duty of the Commission to monitor the security of supply of electricity and that the Commission shall take such measures as it considers necessary to protect security of supply.

In the performance of its monitoring and corrective functions, the Commission is advised by EirGrid, the independent Transmission System Operator. The issue of alerts for the electricity system is a matter for EirGrid who advise me that system alerts are internal industry signals to generators to encourage caution at times when the margin between capacity and demand is tight. They are used to reduce the chances of a failure of a generator which could lead to a shortage overall and are therefore considered a normal part of the functioning of the generation system initiated to support the system.

With specific regard to electricity supply stability, the most recent advice available to me from EirGrid and the Commission is that there is adequate generation capacity to meet demand in accordance with security standards for the coming winter and into the medium term.

The Commission advises me nevertheless that the occurrence of any alerts on the system is contingent on both the level of demand over the winter, which will be determined, in part, by the weather, and the availability of plant to meet that demand. Similar to recent winters, during times of peak demand, the Commission anticipates that there may be times when alerts will be initiated in order to signal the appropriate actions for generators.

I am assured however that the Commission and EirGrid are investigating additional measures that can be put in place to minimise the occurrence of instances where alerts are called for.