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SO-called 'green' energy providers are not all they seem, a watchdog has warned.

As much as one-third of electricity sold by eco-friendly companies such as Airtricity is produced by burning gas, coal, peat and oil -- the fossil fuels that are the main cause of global warming.

The Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) said yesterday that just 65.6pc of all power sold by Airtricity comes from renewable sources, with the rest produced from fossil fuels, including gas (24.8pc), coal (5.7pc), peat (2.7pc) and oil (1pc).

The figure is even lower for Quinn Wind Farm Ltd, which produces just 28pc from wind with the bulk of power provided to customers (51.5pc) produced by burning gas.

eirgrid airtricity hp bt Commission for Energy Regulation quinn wind farm

About 300 jobs are to be created by upgrade work on the Ireland's electricity transmission network

eirgrid transmission network smart grid greennumbers

In June 2007 Eirgrid published a paper on wind energy cost implications with very optimistic price projections for gas. In essence that paper seemed to me to suggest that wind wasn’t fully economical unless gas reached €0.80/therm and the projections suggested that might never happen or if it did it might be after 2020. Gas prices now are €0.20/therm higher than they were expected to be in 2026. Oops!

gas eirgrid wind energy