Irish power firm signs deal for construction of new plant

The parent company of Northern Ireland Electricity has signed a £ 100 mm deal for the construction of the first independent electricity generating power station in the Irish Republic. Viridian also announced it had bought-out its partner's 49.9 % stake in the power station which is to be built at Huntstown near Finglas on the northern outskirts of Dublin.
The now Viridian wholly-owned subsidiary Huntstown Power Company has signed a contract worth IR£ 130 mm with Siemens for the construction of the power station which is scheduled to start pumping electricity into the Irish grid in June 2002. Huntstown will be the first fully independent generator operating in the Irish Republic and the deal has been given the go-ahead following recent agreement in Dublin that it can receive supplies of natural gas for generation.

Viridian Executive Director Harry McCracken, who heads up the company all-Ireland energy business, said: "Now that we have received the necessary gas allocation for Huntstown, and let the contract for construction for the plant, the purchase of (partner) CRH shares allows us to proceed rapidly with the project."
Richard Crowe, managing director of Siemens, added: "This is a major step in the development of the open electricity market in Ireland and Siemens is delighted to be awarded this contract from Ireland's first independent power producer."
Ireland's booming "Celtic Tiger" economy is eating up electricity capacity and unless new generating stations are swiftly built demand will soon exceed production. Huntstown will be the first outside owned plant to help meet that demand. Extra capacity is also in line through a cross-border interconnector and further generation stations are planned.