Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“Today’s comments by the Institution of Civil Engineers miss a key point when it comes to the north-south interconnector – the negative impact the project will have on energy prices in Northern Ireland.
“For years the Northern Ireland Executive have pursued a policy of increasing our links with the Republic when it comes to electricity supply. As has been confirmed to me in a response from the Enterprise Minister “there was a trend towards convergence (in NI/GB prices) in the period immediately prior to the introduction of the Single Electricity Market (SEM). However, in the post-SEM period, there has been a divergence once again.”
“Before the single electricity market was introduced, the trajectory of electricity prices in Northern Ireland was towards coalescence with the lower prices in Great Britain. Since it has been introduced, the trajectory is towards coalescence with the higher prices in the Republic of Ireland and away from the lower prices in GB. That speaks failure not success.
“In May I told the Assembly: “At the end of 2015, Ballylumford B has to go out of production. In 2016, Kilroot has to drop its production by 50%. There is no sign of any indigenous replacement of generation capacity in Northern Ireland, only more dependence on the ESB generation of the Republic, where, of course, focus and attention is on building the generation capacity of the South. What is the Minister’s response? It is to help them by putting all our eggs in the North/South interconnector so that they can better sell their electricity to us. Let us happily ignore the fact that the other interconnector, the Moyle interconnector, is largely redundant at times. It breaks down and is not being replaced or renewed.”
“It’s time the interests of the Northern Ireland consumer were put first. That won’t be the case if the north-south interconnector is pressed ahead with, while our local generation is run down, making disproportionate reliance on southern generation inevitable. A North/South interconnector must be a two way operation, which it will not be if Northern Ireland’s indigenous generation diminishes. When loads come to be shed Ballymun will take precedence over Ballymoney!”