Any shock to the supply of natural gas arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine is seen as "very unlikely" the Department of the Environment has said.
However, the department acknowledged that the conflict could cause disruption to the wider European gas market, with knock-on effects on electricity prices.
In a statement issued on Wednesday evening, the department said that Ireland’s gas supply is sourced from the Corrib gas field, which supplies one quarter of demand, and the UK, which supplies the balance from its “diverse” sources of supply.
"The UK's gas supply comes from indigenous supplies, via pipelines from Norway and through imports of liquefied natural gas. Very little of the UK's gas supply comes from Russia, " the Department said in a statement. In the "very unlikely" event of a gas supply emergency, the department said "there is excellent cooperation between Irish and UK gas system operators – to maintain security of gas supplies from the UK".
State spending on childcare, eldercare and higher education should increase - Tasc
Group encouraging public to tick ‘no Religion’ box in upcoming census
Landlords could use retrofitting scheme to end tenancies, says tenancies board
Landlord ordered to pay former tenant €7,500 for refusing to accept HAP
“This cooperation includes regular testing of emergency plans by the operators, including load-shedding protocols.”
The department estimates that Russian gas accounts for around 15 per cent of Europe’s daily winter gas demand, which is a lower share than normal. The department said that Irish power plants are “all capable of running on liquid fuels in the event of a gas supply disruption, and all have storage of fuels available.”
Coal
Moneypoint, the coal fired power station in Co Clare, is largely run on Russian coal – and has become more important for security of supply in recent months than had been anticipated, due to wider issues in the electricity grid which led to the fear of power cuts over the winter.
"The ESB sources coal for Moneypoint on international markets. The ESB has stated that coal sourced from Russia currently makes up a significant element of this. ESB keeps sourcing options under review, as a matter of course," the department said.
It said the European Commission is working with Member States to "protect the resilience of Europe's gas security of supply".
“The Commission is also actively engaging with other countries to ensure sufficient and timely supply of natural gas to the EU from diverse sources across the globe to avoid supply shocks, including those that could result from disruptions. Natural gas continues to flow and be traded normally, albeit at high prices.”
