Freezing temperatures sparked record electricity consumption on Wednesday, with supply bolstered by British imports, official figures show.
Homes and businesses used 5,639 mega watts (MW) of electricity at 5.28pm on Wednesday, shattering the previous record of 5,577MW set on January 18th this year, according to national grid company, EirGrid.
That was close to the total amount of electricity the Republic’s 10 largest generation plants can produce if all are running simultaneously at full power.
EirGrid has predicted demand could peak at a new record of 5,834MW this winter, driven by an increased number of businesses that use large quantities of electricity, including data centres, new homes and general economic growth.
Diarmaid Gillespie, Eirgrid’s director of system operations, confirmed that most Irish power plants were available to generate electricity while there were “strong imports” from Britain.
He added that this “ensured a sufficient buffer between electricity supply available and demand”.
It is understood that the imports were not critical to ensuring that Irish customers had enough power on Wednesday.
High electricity prices at this side of the Irish Sea have lured extra supplies from Britain via several power lines, known as interconnectors, in recent years, a trend that is likely to continue.
EirGrid noted on Wednesday that “the market dictates the flow of electricity interconnection”. This is “an important part of Ireland’s fuel mix”, it said, particularly as the system shifts to using more renewables during periods of high demand, such as on Wednesday.
The State company pointed out that it does not expect to rely on imports as much as in previous winters, even when weather-dependent renewable electricity supplies are low.
Freezing temperatures with frost and snow gripped Ireland this week. At the same time wind speeds have been low, cutting out many of the State’s green electricity power plants which rely on wind to generate power.
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News of the record electricity demand comes as forecasters extended a cold weather warning into Friday afternoon, from when they predict a storm will follow the freeze.
EirGrid calculates that every one degree Celsius drop in temperature boost demand by 40MW, and 50MW when wind-chill is taken into account.
“Ensuring there is sufficient generation to meet electricity demand is a challenging task, particularly during the colder winter months,” Mr Gillespie acknowledged.
He pointed out that EirGrid reported last month in its yearly winter outlook that new power plants had boosted capacity this winter.
The State company has temporary emergency gas and diesel-fuelled power plants – which can produce 505MW in total – to call on “as a last resort” should demand outrun supply.
The grid operator also has three new gas-fired power plants available, capable of generating 190MW, which are permanent, non-emergency facilities.
Electricity supplies are expected to be more secure this winter than in recent years. According to the grid company’s forecasts, the risk of demand outrunning supply is far lower than last winter or over the 2022/23 season.
EirGrid points out it did not have to cut electricity supplies to any customer in either year.
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