NI Electricity Supply

Thank you Robin McCormack, SONI General Manager and Director of Operations, Planning and Innovation, for your fascinating and detailed account of the Electricity Supply for Ireland to the Club Monday 15 August.

SONI (the electricity System Operator for Northern Ireland) is responsible for the consistent and reliable transmission of electricity on the high-voltage grid, matching supply and demand for power across Northern Ireland, every second of every day from their control centre in the Castlereagh Hills in Belfast.

 Formerly part of NIE they are now separate and part of the EirGrid Group providing a single wholesale electricity market across all Ireland. They ensure that by anticipating demand sufficient power is generated (some stations can take up to 12 hours to get up and running due to the need for steam to be generated) and then transmitted through the high voltage grid onto Northern Ireland Electricity's distribution network - which NIE operate – connecting power to individual homes, farms and businesses.

He advised that each power station bids for supply and SONI ensure the cheapest is used; most demand occurs in the east and there are 2 power stations in the east Ballylumford and Kilroot with a gas generator in Coolkeeragh in the west. SONI is responsible for upgrading the electricity grid to take better advantage of renewable energy with Wind turbines which are mostly situated in the west hills and generate 700MW which is very big for a small system. There are also interconnectors to Scotland and the South.

He spotlighted that they are currently planning a major new grid connection - the 400kV Tyrone to Cavan Interconnector - to link the Northern Ireland and Republic electricity networks. This is the biggest infrastructure project in Ireland with 100 20-40m high pylons every 350m in Tyrone & Armagh and 70 in the South. It is currently going through the planning process and is expected to be completed by 2019. In conjunction with the existing undersea connection to Scotland, this new interconnector will ensure security of electricity supply, generate significant cost savings and enable economic growth investment and job creation whilst increasing renewable and reducing oil generation as required by EU Legislation.