 Cross-border wholesale electricity trading is expected to reduce costs |
The launch of an all-Ireland energy market has been put back by four months until September 2007, following a cross-border review by regulators. The regulators in NI and the Irish Republic had initially set 1 July next year as the start date for wholesale electricity trading.
The all-island move is expected to reduce power generation costs.
Announcing the delay, NI Secretary Peter Hain said it was "essential that we get it absolutely right".
"This is a groundbreaking arrangement between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland that will create a single wholesale electricity market across two jurisdictions," he said.
"The new Single Electricity Market is the first of its kind in the European Union and will be a flagship development in the European drive towards a common energy market."
The decision to allow for extensive market testing and implementation followed consultation with transmission system operators and the energy industry.
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