Irish system operators have issued an amber alert over tightening power capacity margins on the all-island grid.
The Single Electricity Market Operator, a joint venture between TSOs Eirgrid and SONI, said the alert comes into force from 4pm today.
The warning has been issued as demand has increased due to a cold snap with generation from renewables dropping because of weather conditions, leaving a narrow gap between system demand and available generation.
“Please be aware that the TSO(s) are taking measures at high prices which may impact on the Balancing Market prices,” said the SEMO.
“This alert is in place until further notice. A further communication will be issued when the System Alert has been lifted.”
The alert follows a similar one issued yesterday by National Grid ESO in the UK, which was withdrawn earlier today.
It was the fourth such warning in recent months.
“We've withdrawn the electricity margin notice for this evening, as our buffer of spare capacity has been restored to a sufficient level. We have enough generation to meet demand and continue to operate the system as normal,” said the system operator.
“We're continuing to monitor margins over the coming days.”
