Viridian pushes into Irish electricity market
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.VIRIDIAN, THE utility group which owns Northern Ireland Electricity, is planning a major push south of the border when the Irish Republic's electricity market is opened to competition next year.
The company is aiming to capture up to 10 per cent of the market by building a pounds 150m gas-fired plant near Finglas in the north of Dublin. The station, to be developed in partnership with CRH, will initially have a capacity of 300 megawatts with the option to double output.
Peak output in the Irish Republic is running at about 3,700 megawatts but demand for electricity is growing at 6-7 per cent a year as the economy expands - more than twice the growth rate in the North. From next February, 26 per cent of the Republic's energy market will be opened to competition but it will openly be big industrial and commercial users that will be free to shop around.
Patrick Haren, Viridian's chief executive, said it had been marketing for over a year to Ireland's 300 biggest customers and was confident it could sell all the output from the new gas plant.
He was speaking as Viridian reported an 8 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to pounds 44.8m for the first six months.
Its non-regulated businesses, including financial services, outsourcing, property and industrial contracting, generated 18 per cent of operating profits.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments