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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
David Kent

Amber alert on Ireland's electricity in worrying update as UK blackout fears intensify


Ireland is under an amber alert on its electricity market for the second day in a row.

In the UK, there are major worries of rolling blackouts in the winter, with plans being put in place for organised blackouts for industry and households over winter.

While Eamon Ryan has ruled out any possibility of rationing in Ireland, the latest update from the Single Electricity Market Operator operated by EirGrid is not good news.

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A woman makes tea under a USB-powered LED light during a load-shedding power outage period (Getty)

Although an amber alert has no immediate impact for electricity users, it is a warning of potential for temporary electricity supply issues in the near future.

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It is a signal for all generators of electricity to make their facility available for use and not to put their facility at any risk of tripping.

An EirGrid spokesperson said: "The electricity system is experiencing tight margins today. A #SystemAlert (Amber Alert) notice has been issued to the electricity market this morning due to low wind, limited electricity imports & forced outages at a number of generators."

The heatwave Ireland will experience over the next few days will not help the situation either.

The national forecaster has already put a high temperature warning in for Munster and Leinster which is set to kick in on Thursday, but Wednesday will also be a bit of a scorcher in parts of the country.

It comes as an overall advisory for warmer conditions remains in place, having been introduced on Sunday - that's set to go until Monday morning at the earliest.

Eamon Ryan, Leo Varadkar, Micheál Martin (Collins/Tom Honan)

A system alert often passes off without incident once a sufficient buffer between electricity supply and demand is restored, EirGrid add.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg have said that the UK Government is preparing for a "reasonable worst-case scenario" - which claims that Britain could be exposed to four days in January when it may need to trigger emergency measures to conserve gas.

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