ESB may spend up to €300 million over the next two years refurbishing one of its existing power stations to make it more efficient and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The company yesterday issued a tender for qualified firms that would be interested in working on the project, which is likely to be opposed by its main competitors.
ESB, which currently dominates the electricity generating market in the Republic, has conducted a major study of its existing stock of power stations to determine which would be best placed for refurbishment.
It is understood the firm has decided that its existing plant in Aghada in County Cork would be the most appropriate for refurbishment.
Under the proposal, one of the generating units at Aghada would be decommissioned and replaced by a state-of-the-art combined cycle thermal plant. This would increase the plant's efficiency, and cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.
The tender documents issued by the ESB show that typically the refurbished power plant would generate about 380 megawatts of electricity. The existing plant at Aghada in Cork produces about 540 megawatts from several units.
ESB said yesterday it would be impossible to refurbish the Rhode power station in Offaly, where workers recently rejected a €20 million package for its closure.
He also said that no final decision had yet been taken by the company on whether to proceed with the refurbishment project at all despite the new tender. The tender was issued as part of its investigation and analysis of the issue of refurbishment, he added.
It is likely if the Aghada plan goes ahead a refurbishment would result in a small amount of extra generating capacity being produced, said an ESB spokesman.
Under a deal reached between ESB and the electricity regulator, Mr Tom Reeves, the ESB has agreed not to build any new greenfield stations.
Some competitors have already left the market, claiming that the competitive framework was not in place to encourage investment from firms other than the ESB. Industry sources predicted last night that competitors may oppose the refurbishment plan.
