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Japanese Quake to have knock on effect on Irish Electricity Prices? printable version

16 Mar 2011: posted by the editor - Ireland

As a result of the extraordinary and tragic domino effect of Japan’s 8.9 magnitude earthquake last Friday, Ireland’s energy market could be cruelly impacted warns the energy unit of An Taisce the National Trust for Ireland.

With the possible meltdown of two Japanese nuclear plants and with others on high alert, that country’s demand for Russian gas has increased immensely. The Russian government has agreed to requests from Japan for urgent supplies of gas to assist in a return to some semblance of normality as quickly as possible. This may have an enormous impact not only on supplies but more importantly on the price of natural gas (NG) in Europe’s pipeline from Russia. (fluctuations in the price of natural gas have already been noticed).

Ireland is at the end of that pipeline and imports 92% of the gas necessary to generate electricity in this country. The possible effects are immediately obvious—an increase in electricity prices that is way outside the control of either the Government or the regulator.

The Japanese nuclear industry is under a magnifying glass right now and it is unlikely that even in the aftermath of this natural disaster Japan will consider constructing new nuclear plants to replace the ones currently on the scrapheap. They will likely turn to gas which means that the increase in demand will not be an isolated spike on the graph but a steadily climbing curve over the next decade impacting on price the world over.

“Our heartfelt sympathies are with the Japanese people in this, their time of ongoing hardship” said Elizabeth Muldowney, National energy officer with An Taisce.

“The tremors of this quake will continue to be felt world- wide. The new Government must urgently review Ireland’s dependency on imported natural gas for electricity generation—whether it be by pipeline or in its liquefied form (LNG)—with a view to developing an exit strategy that will release us from an ever-tightening noose around our energy using necks. Integrated policy development with planning and environmental policy along with renewable energy development must be a priority.” she continued.

“Without this our exposure to natural and man-made disasters on a global level (such as the Japanese catastrophe or the middle eastern turmoil) will cripple the competitiveness of our export sector and result in dangerous and needless delays in our national economic recovery and long term sustainability.” concluded Elizabeth.

http://www.ogj.com/index.html is the link to the Oil and Gas Journal which provides live prices

Tags: oil, gas, electricity, Ireland, Japan

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