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SEMI-STATE ELECTRICITY SUPPLIER ESB has reported a significant drop in profits because of falling wholesale power prices.
But the company, which produces about 43% of all electricity across the island of Ireland, has still delivered a dividend of over €300 million to its government owners.
In its 2014 annual report, ESB said its operating profits had fallen nearly 20% on the previous year’s figures to €552 million for the 12 months.
It follows Centrica, the UK-based parent company for Ireland’s biggest residential supplier, Bord Gáis Energy, reporting an even larger fall in profits last year.
ESB mainly blamed the drop on lower gas prices – which had cut wholesale electricity costs across the board – storm repair costs and reduced availability at its coal-fuelled Moneypoint plant due to repair work.
Meanwhile the semi-state’s retail arm, Electric Ireland, cut prices 2% for residential customers during a year in which energy commodity prices fell dramatically.
It had 37% of the total supply market, or some 1.5 million customers last year.
‘Good progress’ on wind
ESB said it spent about €700 million in energy infrastructure across the island last year as it boosted the share of its power coming from wind turbines.
According to its report, it said it had made “good progress” in building a new wind farm at Woodhouse in Co Waterford.
The farm was expected to come online in the first half of this year, taking the company’s total wind generation to over 400 MW.
Some 92% of ESB’s power generation still came from gas, coal and peat last year, while the remainder came from wind and hydro plants.
The government has agreed a target with the EU that 40% of the country’s electricity needs would come from renewable sources by 2020, although it is in danger of falling short on some goals and being liable for up to €400 million in annual penalties.
First published 10.30am
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You have to feel sorry for them having to pass on cuts to their customers which eats into their profits tough business
If only Electric Ireland would pass on more of the cuts. They shouldn’t be able to raise prices if costs go up. We only got a fraction of the benefit while they absorbed it to offset commercial side of things.
I want to set up a community co-op and we build our own wind farm in the area and get less reliant on these jokers.
Remember the ESB were set up so we didn’t have to build community grids, and instead would get the benefit of a single supply source, large procurement of raw materials and efficient operations. Now it is there to push for larger profits at the expense of the consumers that use the service. While it is fine to retain a healthy margin to invest in the network, this “profit” is absorbed in higher executive salaries for meeting fake targets (put up prices each year regardless of international oil and gas going up or down). To think, these are supposed to be an arm of the government, but the board and executives think they are at the big corporations table at our expense.
It’s amazing how little power comes from windfarms despite them being built everywhere
Padraig there’s not always wind to turn the turbines and other times it too windy and they’ve to be shut down.they’re extremely inefficient
Wrong and wrong!
A dam on the river Severn could supply 15% of the UK electricity day in day out without fail.
There are other methods of non fossil generation besides wind that we can and should look into.
Remember the good old days when we had one of the cheapest tariffs in europe..then it was opened up to “competition “with the result that we now have one of most expensive rates..good oul regulator..good oul eec..must be trying trying to prevent the same problem with water..will have one of the most expensive rates (post 2019) before “competition”
Does your “good ole days cheapest tariff” include the massive cost through taxes as well as through direct billing? Does it take into account the move from cheap dirty fuels to expensive cleaner fuels? The move to expensive renewable energy sources?
Don’t fool yourself – competition isn’t the problem here. Anyone with a basic knowledge of economics knows that real competition lowers prices. The price is high because of over-regulation, the regulator is artificially inflating prices to make newer entrants more profitable (e.g. wind generation & suppliers like bord gais energy). This is what happens when government meddles with markets.
I’m not saying it’s not important to have “profitable” renewable providers, but you can’t have it both ways.
Keep it cheap. Keep it public. No to privatisation.
Shocking report…bet the figures took the wind out of their sails…sorry….I’ll leave…
Shocking
I’d say your electric at parties
If those at the top took a proper pay cut,board of management and other hanger on’s,is say they would double that figure.
Shameful that 42% of their power generation is coming from coal and peat. At least they’ve stopped burning oil.
If some of their electricity is from wind turbines then when it gets too windy does the ESB have to pay compensation to those who own the turbines to switch them off as they do in the U.K. and that costs more than the electricity from them or is this another excuse for putting up the bill?
Their powerless to control their profits
Why can’t we achieve better than 8% supply from renewable energy sources? Surely offshore wind and wave could make a difference. We need to make the most of what we’ve got like Costa Rica:
http://www.iflscience.com/environment/costa-rica-has-only-used-renewables-electricity-year
have your say