WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3206/98 by Nuala AHERN Scotland- Northern Ireland Electricity Interconnector
Date: 1998-10-16
Institutions: AHERN, European Parliament
Subjects: Northern Ireland, Scotland, economic and social cohesion, energy grid, systems interconnection, trans-European network, transmission network













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91998E3206

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3206/98 by Nuala AHERN Scotland- Northern Ireland Electricity Interconnector  


Official Journal C 320 , 06/11/1999 P. 0029 





WRITTEN QUESTION P-3206/98by Nuala Ahern (V) to the Commission(16 October 1998)Subject: Scotland-Northern Ireland Electricity InterconnectorI am aware that a report is being prepared by DG XVI for the next meeting of the SPD Monitoring Committee which will be held in late November in Belfast. Will the Commission ensure that the SPD Monitoring Committee for the Scotland-Northern Ireland Interconnector delay taking any decision on the Interconnector until the Northern Ireland Regulator OFREG report has been published? Will the Commission ensure that no ERDF grants be released until all parties are satisfied with the latest economic analysis of the Interconnector?Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission(11 November 1998)The electricity interconnector project forms part of the single programming document (SPD) for Northern Ireland (1994-1999) agreed between the Commission and the Northern Ireland authorities. The motivation for including the interconnector project was primarily strategic, rather than economic. It features in priority 3 of the SPD: "Reducing the effects of peripherality", and is designed to improve the security of electricity supply in Northern Ireland, to help diversify Northern Ireland's energy sources, to end the isolation of Northern Ireland's electricity system and to overcome the effects of peripherality in the provision of energy in Northern Ireland.This project has been recognised by the Parliament and the Council as a project of common interest under the Trans-European energy networks, aimed at strengthening economic and social cohesion and increasing the reliability and security of the Community's energy supplies by Decision No 1254/96/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 1996(1).With regard to the contribution of the Director general of electricity supply for Northern Ireland (the regulator), it may be noted that the results of the initial economic appraisal were published in June 1995 and concluded that Northern Ireland Electricity, in proceeding with the project, would not be in breach of its economic purchasing obligation. The regulator commenced work on a second economic appraisal of the interconnector project in January 1998, in order to check whether that conclusion is still valid. The regulator is independent and it is up to him when and how he makes his conclusions public.The final decision on whether the interconnector project goes ahead does not lie only with the Commission. It will be taken in partnership with the Northern Ireland authorities, in the context of the SPD monitoring committee. The monitoring committee will assure itself that all relevant procedures have been complied with (e.g. that planning permission has been granted in both Scotland and Northern Ireland) and that all relevant factors are taken into account, among which the regulator's views will be important. However, as stated above, this project cannot be judged purely in economic terms. While it is certainly hoped to provide economic benefits to the Northern Ireland consumer, other factors enter into the equation.(1) OJ L 161, 29.6.1996.