Written answers
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Price Inflation
10:00 am
Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 238: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the wholesale energy prices from 1999 to date in 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39591/09]
Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 239: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the breakdown of energy prices from 1999 to date in 2009; the overall figures for energy prices as a whole from 1999 to date in 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39592/09]
Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 240: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the electrical prices for industrial users here from 1999 to date in 2009; the electrical prices for industrial users here as compared to the UK from 1999 to date in 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39593/09]
Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 238 to 240, inclusive, together.
Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) collects and publishes energy statistics to support policy analysis and development, in line with national needs and international obligations. Every six months SEI publishes a report on Understanding Electricity and Gas Prices in Ireland which details electricity and gas prices to every category of domestic and industrial user and compares those figures with other Member States of the European Union. In June 2007, the EU Commission adopted a new EU-wide methodology for gathering energy price data. This new methodology was applied to all statistics gathered from July 2007 onwards. SEI advises that the compilation of meaningful comparative price statistics prior to July 2007 is not readily achievable without undue commitment of staff resources and administrative costs.
The tables below provided by SEI include a comparison of industrial electricity and gas prices between the UK and Ireland from July 2007, in the most common bands of volume consumption. The price excluding VAT was used as this is the most relevant for industrial/services consumers and the UK price was converted to Euros at the average sterling exchange rate for the 6-month period in question. Clearly, exchange rate differentials over this period will also have an impact on the price comparisons.
| Electricity Prices to Industry | without VAT (c/kWh) | |
| Band IC - Annual Electricity Consumption 500 < 2,000 MWhJuly 07 - Dec 07Jan 08 - June 08July 08 - Dec 08Jan 09 - Jun 09Ireland12.3513.0214.1913.14United Kingdom10.789.7710.8811.17Band ID - Annual Electricity Consumption 2,000 < 20,000 MWhJuly 07 - Dec 07Jan 08 - June 08July 08 - Dec 08Jan 09 - Jun 09Ireland10.8612.0112.7611.07United Kingdom9.448.8010.1010.18Band IE- Annual Electricity Consumption 20,000 < 70,000 MWhJuly 07 - Dec 07Jan 08 - June 08July 08 - Dec 08Jan 09 - Jun 09Ireland10.9411.9111.509.67United Kingdom8.858.539.779.98Band IF - Annual Electricity Consumption 70,000 < 150,000 MWhJuly 07 - Dec 07Jan 08 - June 08July 08 - Dec 08Jan 09 - Jun 09Ireland10.26..10.048.79United Kingdom8.468.809.949.78Gas Prices to Industrywithout VAT (€/GJ)Band I2 – Annual Gas Consumption 1,000 < 10,000 GJJuly 07 - Dec 07Jan 08 - June 08July 08 - Dec 08Jan 09 - Jun 09Ireland10.8310.8812.7010.51United Kingdom8.938.899.749.33Band I3 – Annual Gas Consumption 10,000 < 100,000 GJJuly 07 - Dec 07Jan 08 - June 08July 08 - Dec 08Jan 09 - Jun 09Ireland9.7211.0510.999.30United Kingdom7.177.738.698.35Band I4 - Annual Gas Consumption 100,000 < 1,000,000 GJJuly 07 - Dec 07Jan 08 - June 08July 08 - Dec 08Jan 09 - Jun 09Ireland6.918.059.078.72United Kingdom6.107.298.307.37The tables show that Irish energy costs, in general, tend to be above those in the UK. This is to be expected, not least because Ireland imports over 95% of natural gas supplies from the UK and consequently faces higher transportation and interconnection charges, which also has an impact on electricity prices. Ireland also faces structural factors, including a smaller and more widely dispersed population and lack of economies of scale in electricity generation, which tend to increase energy costs in Ireland. However, the figures also demonstrate that in two categories of electricity consumption bands, Irish electricity costs have moved below those in the UK.As well as comparative figures for Ireland and the EU, SEI's report also provides valuable insight into the drivers of higher energy costs in our market. These include our significant dependence on volatile imported fossil fuels, particularly gas, as well as a requirement for very significant investment in energy infrastructure, following two decades of under-investment in the networks. The under-investment in networks and power generation posed real risks to security of supply which had become a major concern for enterprise. The Government is committed to increasing competition as the best means of exerting downward pressure on energy prices, and also towards ensuring diversity of energy supply to reduce our exposure to high and volatile external energy prices. Significant progress has been made to date, most notably with the all-island Single Electricity Market now in place, the sale of ESB generation capacity, entry of new players and new generation capacity coming on-stream in the Irish market.> |
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