The ESB has lodged a planning application with Dublin Corporation for a £200 million gas-fired station in Ringsend, Dublin.

The proposed station will have 400 megawatts of generating capacity and is expected to be completed by the winter of 2001.

Subject to planning approval, the ESB expects building to begin later this year on the site at Pigeon House Road and 300 construction jobs will be provided. Because the station is gas-fired, permanent employment levels will be low, probably 40 people at most.

The ESB disclosed yesterday that the Republic's electricity demand hit the highest recorded level last week. At one stage 3,552 megawatts of power had to be supplied.

The ESB said it was against this background that the new power station was being built.

The new plant will need approval at the end of the year by the incoming electricity regulator, Mr Tom Reeves. The Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, has already given permission for the company to spend £200 million on the project.

The chief executive of the ESB, Mr Ken O'Hara, said recently the new plant was crucial to the company and without it there could be power cuts.

The proposed development covers an area of 60,000 sq m, including a gas turbine, water treatment plant and two stacks of up to 70 metres in height.

The new plant is part of the ESB's strategy of building gas stations as an alternative to coal or turf, which are less efficient.

Meanwhile, plans by CRH and Northern Ireland Electricity to build a 600-megawatt station at Huntstown in Finglas, Co Dublin have been opposed by several members of Fingal County Council, which is currently considering a planning application for the station.

The following councillors have recommended that the local authority reject the application: Cllr Sean Ryan (Labour); Cllr Peter Coyle (Labour); Cllr Philip Jenkinson (Fine Gael); Cllr Sean Kilbride (Fianna Fail); and Cllr Ken Farrell (Labour).

A decision on the planning application will be made in February. The councillors expressed their opposition to the application during a recent council meeting. Some local residents have also lodged objections to the plan.

A rejection by Fingal County Council of the application would be a major blow to both companies, which have already spent a significant sum on preparatory work.