The ESB has decided to close down the largest oil-fired power station in the Republic at Tarbert, Co Kerry. Its 130 staff are to be offered redundancy terms. Emmet Oliver reports.
The board of the ESB are to discuss the issue at a meeting today. Staff at the plant were informed of the decision yesterday afternoon. The plant is one of the largest in the State, producing approximately 620 megawatts of power.
No decision has been made yet in regard to the site, although it is possible another energy company could purchase it.
The station is not facing imminent closure, but the ESB has decided not to make any more investments in the plant. This means that closure will take place between 2008 and 2010.
The decision to wind down the plant reduces the ESB's share of generating capacity in the Republic.
While it will only lose one of its 19 plants, the loss of 620 megawatts is significant.
The staff at the plant are likely to be offered voluntary redundancy or re-deployment elsewhere in the ESB group.
However, it is understood the age profile at the plant is high so there may be significant interest in the redundancy. Workers who want to continue in the ESB group may move to the nearby Moneypoint plant.
It is understood the ESB could have spent €90 million on the plant and this would have extended its life until 2020. The other option was to make a short-term investment of €35 million which would have kept the plant open until 2012.
The company, however, has decided it does not want to make these investments and will let the plant close.
The plant was first opened in 1969, making it one of oldest stations in Ireland.
Its age has contributed to its low availability - it is understood that in recent years it has only been able to generate power 82 per cent of the year on average.
Last November, the ESB revealed that Tarbert and Poolbeg in Dublin were the worst performing stations in its network. The high price of oil has also impacted on the economics of the plant.
While the ESB has a portion of its fuel requirement hedged, the recent increases would have hit the plant's costs.
The price of oil has been hovering around $70-$75 (€54-€58) over the last few months.
Work has been done at the plant over the last two years after two workers were killed at the plant after an explosion.
An interim report into the fatal explosion found that work carried out by three men prior to the accident was in compliance with normal practices.
The men had been working in the switchgear room at the Tarbert plant when the explosion occurred on July 3rd, 2004.
Two of the men were fatally injured.
Patrick McCrohan, an electrician (38), of Doon, Tralee, died on July 4th, and electrical instrumentation supervisor Michael Healy (49), died one week later, on July 10th, in the burns unit of Cork University Hospital.
