IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v105y2017icp67-79.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A 100 year review of electricity policy in Ireland (1916–2015)

Author

Listed:
  • Gaffney, F.
  • Deane, J.P.
  • Gallachóir, B.P.Ó

Abstract

Over the past century, Ireland's electricity sector has undergone a significant transformation. This paper documents the nation's struggle to build an electricity system, to improve security of electricity supply through portfolio diversification and to promote indigenous energy sources. This was a challenge for an (electrically) isolated island with little natural resources. The paper also identifies the ineffective policy decisions that left Ireland exposed to the 1970s energy crises. The crises did, however, provide a clear impetus for focusing Irish energy policy going forward. The successful deployment and integration of large-scale wind power was due to strong national and supranational policy decisions. In 2015, Ireland had the third highest wind energy share of national electricity demand (22.8%) of all IEA Wind Member Countries. The paper also traces Ireland's transition through market reform, regional fragmentation, and looks onwards to the EU internal market for electricity. In essence, this paper provides a holistic view of the implications of various policy decisions on the electricity sector along with the stresses of external factors on the electricity market and should be useful for policy makers elsewhere faced with similar decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Gaffney, F. & Deane, J.P. & Gallachóir, B.P.Ó, 2017. "A 100 year review of electricity policy in Ireland (1916–2015)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 67-79.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:105:y:2017:i:c:p:67-79
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.02.028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421517301039
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.02.028?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hattori, Toru & Tsutsui, Miki, 2004. "Economic impact of regulatory reforms in the electricity supply industry: a panel data analysis for OECD countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 823-832, April.
    2. FitzGerald, John & Keeney, Mary J. & McCarthy, Niamh & O'Malley, Eoin & Scott, Susan, 2005. "Aspects of Irish Energy Policy," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number PRS57, June.
    3. Gorecki, Paul K., 2013. "Ensuring compatibility of the all-island electricity system with the target model: Fitting a square peg into a round hole?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 677-688.
    4. David M. Newbery, 2005. "Electricity liberalization in Britain: The quest for a satisfactory wholesale market design," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Special I), pages 43-70.
    5. Solangi, K.H. & Islam, M.R. & Saidur, R. & Rahim, N.A. & Fayaz, H., 2011. "A review on global solar energy policy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 2149-2163, May.
    6. O'Connor, Robert & Crutchfield, J. A. & Whelan, Brendan J., 1981. "Socio-Economic Impact of the Construction of the ESB Power Station at Moneypoint, Co. Clare," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number GRS105, June.
    7. Gore, Olga & Vanadzina, Evgenia & Viljainen, Satu, 2016. "Linking the energy-only market and the energy-plus-capacity market," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 52-61.
    8. Woo, Chi-Keung & Lloyd, Debra & Tishler, Asher, 2003. "Electricity market reform failures: UK, Norway, Alberta and California," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(11), pages 1103-1115, September.
    9. Apt, Jay, 2005. "Competition Has Not Lowered U.S. Industrial Electricity Prices," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 52-61, March.
    10. Lyons, Sean & FitzGerald, John & McCarthy, Niamh & Malaguzzi Valeri, Laura & Tol, Richard S. J., 2007. "Preserving Electricity Market Efficiency While Closing Ireland's Capacity Gap," Quarterly Economic Commentary: Special Articles, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), vol. 2007(3-Autumn), pages 62-82.
    11. Torstein Bye & Einar Hope, 2005. "Deregulation of electricity markets : The Norwegian experience," Discussion Papers 433, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    12. Bridgman, Benjamin & Gomes, Victor & Teixeira, Arilton, 2011. "Threatening to Increase Productivity: Evidence from Brazil's Oil Industry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1372-1385, August.
    13. repec:aen:journl:eeep4_1_valeri is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Cameron, Lisa & Cramton, Peter, 1999. "The Role of the ISO in U.S. Electricity Markets: A Review of Restructuring in California and PJM," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 71-81, April.
    15. Meeus, Leonardo & Purchala, Konrad & Belmans, Ronnie, 2005. "Development of the Internal Electricity Market in Europe," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 25-35, July.
    16. Glachant, Jean-Michel & Ruester, Sophia, 2014. "The EU internal electricity market: Done forever?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 1-7.
    17. Tooraj Jamasb and Michael Pollitt, 2005. "Electricity Market Reform in the European Union: Review of Progress toward Liberalization & Integration," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Special I), pages 11-42.
    18. Karl Markiewicz & Nancy L. Rose & Catherine Wolfram, 2004. "Does Competition Reduce Costs? Assessing the Impact of Regulatory Restructuring on U.S. Electric Generation Efficiency," Working Papers EP67, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    19. Bower, John & Bunn, Derek, 2001. "Experimental analysis of the efficiency of uniform-price versus discriminatory auctions in the England and Wales electricity market," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 25(3-4), pages 561-592, March.
    20. Newbery, D.M. & Pollitt, M.G., 1996. "The Restructuring and Privatisation of the CEGB: Was It Worth It?," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 9607, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    21. Lipp, Judith, 2007. "Lessons for effective renewable electricity policy from Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 5481-5495, November.
    22. Paul Deane, John FitzGerald, Laura Malaguzzi Valeri, Aidan Tuohy and Darragh Walsh, 2015. "Irish and British electricity prices: what recent history implies for future prices," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    23. Cleary, Brendan & Duffy, Aidan & Bach, Bjarne & Vitina, Aisma & O’Connor, Alan & Conlon, Michael, 2016. "Estimating the electricity prices, generation costs and CO2 emissions of large scale wind energy exports from Ireland to Great Britain," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 38-48.
    24. Doherty, Ronan & O'Malley, Mark, 2011. "The efficiency of Ireland's Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff (REFIT) for wind generation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 4911-4919, September.
    25. Kira R. Fabrizio & Nancy L. Rose & Catherine D. Wolfram, 2007. "Do Markets Reduce Costs? Assessing the Impact of Regulatory Restructuring on US Electric Generation Efficiency," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(4), pages 1250-1277, September.
    26. Williams, J.H. & Ghanadan, R., 2006. "Electricity reform in developing and transition countries: A reappraisal," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 815-844.
    27. FitzGerald, John, 2011. "A Review of Irish Energy Policy," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS21, June.
    28. Nepal, Rabindra & Jamasb, Tooraj, 2012. "Reforming the power sector in transition: Do institutions matter?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 1675-1682.
    29. Nagayama, Hiroaki, 2007. "Effects of regulatory reforms in the electricity supply industry on electricity prices in developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 3440-3462, June.
    30. Glachant, Jean-Michel & Ruester, Sophia, 2014. "The EU internal electricity market: Done forever?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 221-228.
    31. Leahy, Eimear & Tol, Richard S.J., 2011. "An estimate of the value of lost load for Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1514-1520, March.
    32. Paul L. Joskow, 2008. "Lessons Learned from Electricity Market Liberalization," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Special I), pages 9-42.
    33. Nagayama, Hiroaki, 2009. "Electric power sector reform liberalization models and electric power prices in developing countries: An empirical analysis using international panel data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 463-472, May.
    34. Gratwick, Katharine Nawaal & Eberhard, Anton, 2008. "Demise of the standard model for power sector reform and the emergence of hybrid power markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 3948-3960, October.
    35. Harry Markowitz, 1952. "Portfolio Selection," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 7(1), pages 77-91, March.
    36. Tuohy, Aidan & Bazilian, Morgan & Doherty, Ronan & Gallachóir, Brian Ó & O'Malley, Mark, 2009. "Burning peat in Ireland: An electricity market dispatch perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3035-3042, August.
    37. Deane, J.P. & Driscoll, Á. & Gallachóir, B.P Ó, 2015. "Quantifying the impacts of national renewable electricity ambitions using a North–West European electricity market model," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 604-609.
    38. Saidur, R. & Islam, M.R. & Rahim, N.A. & Solangi, K.H., 2010. "A review on global wind energy policy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(7), pages 1744-1762, September.
    39. Hyland, Marie, 2016. "Restructuring European electricity markets – A panel data analysis," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 33-42.
    40. Deane, J.P. & Drayton, G. & Ó Gallachóir, B.P., 2014. "The impact of sub-hourly modelling in power systems with significant levels of renewable generation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 152-158.
    41. Richard Green & Tanga McDaniel, 1998. "Competition in electricity supply: will ‘1998’ Be worth it?," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 19(3), pages 273-293, August.
    42. Massimo Florio, 2014. "Energy Reforms and Consumer Prices in the EU over twenty Years," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    43. Huber, Claus & Ryan, Lisa & O Gallachoir, Brian & Resch, Gustav & Polaski, Katrina & Bazilian, Morgan, 2007. "Economic modelling of price support mechanisms for renewable energy: Case study on Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 1172-1185, February.
    44. Mc Garrigle, E.V. & Deane, J.P. & Leahy, P.G., 2013. "How much wind energy will be curtailed on the 2020 Irish power system?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 544-553.
    45. Raineri, R. & Rios, S. & Schiele, D., 2006. "Technical and economic aspects of ancillary services markets in the electric power industry: an international comparison," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(13), pages 1540-1555, September.
    46. McInerney, Celine & Bunn, Derek, 2013. "Valuation anomalies for interconnector transmission rights," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 565-578.
    47. Clancy, J.M. & Gaffney, F. & Deane, J.P. & Curtis, J. & Ó Gallachóir, B.P., 2015. "Fossil fuel and CO2 emissions savings on a high renewable electricity system – A single year case study for Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 151-164.
    48. Sencar, Marko & Pozeb, Viljem & Krope, Tina, 2014. "Development of EU (European Union) energy market agenda and security of supply," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 117-124.
    49. Sioshansi, Fereidoon P., 2006. "Electricity Market Reform: What Have We Learned? What Have We Gained?," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(9), pages 70-83, November.
    50. Walsh, Darragh & Malaguzzi Valeri, Laura & Di Cosmo, Valeria, 2016. "Strategic bidding, wind ownership and regulation in a decentralised electricity market," MPRA Paper 71502, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    51. Sensfuß, Frank & Ragwitz, Mario & Genoese, Massimo, 2008. "The merit-order effect: A detailed analysis of the price effect of renewable electricity generation on spot market prices in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 3076-3084, August.
    52. Deane, J.P. & Ó Gallachóir, B.P. & McKeogh, E.J., 2010. "Techno-economic review of existing and new pumped hydro energy storage plant," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 1293-1302, May.
    53. Nepal, Rabindra & Jamasb, Tooraj, 2012. "Reforming small electricity systems under political instability: The case of Nepal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 242-251.
    54. Lee, Kiseok & Ni, Shawn, 2002. "On the dynamic effects of oil price shocks: a study using industry level data," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 823-852, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. McGrath, Luke & Hynes, Stephen & McHale, John, 2019. "Augmenting the World Bank's estimates: Ireland's genuine savings through boom and bust," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 1-1.
    2. Vorushylo, Inna & Keatley, Patrick & Shah, Nikhilkumar & Green, Richard & Hewitt, Neil, 2018. "How heat pumps and thermal energy storage can be used to manage wind power: A study of Ireland," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 539-549.
    3. Wang, Shurui & Huang, Ye & Vorushylo, Inna & Chen, Haisheng & McLarnon, Dominic & MacArtain, Paul & Hewitt, Neil, 2020. "Economic assessment of high renewable energy penetration scenario in 2030 on the interconnected Irish power system," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    4. Liu, Lanjian & Zhang, Tian & Avrin, Anne-Perrine & Wang, Xianwen, 2020. "Is China's industrial policy effective? An empirical study of the new energy vehicles industry," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    5. Long, Aoife & Murphy, Jerry D., 2019. "Can green gas certificates allow for the accurate quantification of the energy supply and sustainability of biomethane from a range of sources for renewable heat and or transport?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hyland, Marie, 2016. "Restructuring European electricity markets – A panel data analysis," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 33-42.
    2. Erdogdu, Erkan, 2010. "Electricity Market Reform: Lessons for developing countries," MPRA Paper 27317, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Erdogdu, Erkan, 2013. "Essays on Electricity Market Reforms: A Cross-Country Applied Approach," MPRA Paper 47139, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Tooraj Jamasb & Rabindra Nepal & Govinda R. Timilsina, 2017. "A Quarter Century Effort Yet to Come of Age: A Survey of Electricity Sector Reform in Developing Countries," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3).
    5. Tooraj Jamasb & Rabindra Nepal & Govinda Timilsina & Michael Toman, 2014. "Energy Sector Reform, Economic Efficiency and Poverty Reduction," Discussion Papers Series 529, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    6. Ahmed, Tauqir & Bhatti, Arshad Ali, 2019. "Do power sector reforms affect electricity prices in selected Asian countries?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 1253-1260.
    7. Bigerna, Simona & D'Errico, Maria Chiara & Polinori, Paolo, 2020. "Heterogeneous impacts of regulatory policy stringency on the EU electricity Industry:A Bayesian shrinkage dynamic analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    8. Asane-Otoo, Emmanuel, 2016. "Competition policies and environmental quality: Empirical analysis of the electricity sector in OECD countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 212-223.
    9. Nepal, Rabindra & Phoumin, Han & Musibau, Hammed & Jamasb, Tooraj, 2022. "The socio-economic impacts of energy policy reform through the lens of the power sector – Does cross-sectional dependence matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    10. del-Río, Belén & Fernández-Sainz, Ana & Martinez de Alegria, Itziar, 2019. "Industrial electricity prices in the European Union following restructuring: A comparative panel-data analysis," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1-1.
    11. da Silva, Patrícia Pereira & Cerqueira, Pedro A., 2017. "Assessing the determinants of household electricity prices in the EU: a system-GMM panel data approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1131-1137.
    12. Kaller, Alexander & Bielen, Samantha & Marneffe, Wim, 2018. "The impact of regulatory quality and corruption on residential electricity prices in the context of electricity market reforms," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 514-524.
    13. Erkan Erdogdu, 2014. "The Political Economy of Electricity Market Liberalization: A Cross-country Approach," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3).
    14. Foley, A.M. & Ó Gallachóir, B.P. & McKeogh, E.J. & Milborrow, D. & Leahy, P.G., 2013. "Addressing the technical and market challenges to high wind power integration in Ireland," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 692-703.
    15. Anupama Sen & Rabindra Nepal & Tooraj Jamasb, 2016. "Rethinking electricity sector reform in developing Asia: Balancing economic and environmental objectives," ASARC Working Papers 2016-06, The Australian National University, Australia South Asia Research Centre.
    16. Rabindra, Nepal & Tooraj, Jamasb, 2013. "Caught Between Theory and Practice: Government, Market, and Regulatory Failure in Electricity Sector Reforms," SIRE Discussion Papers 2013-22, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    17. Curtis, John & Devitt, Niamh & di Cosmo, Valeria & Farrell, Niall & FitzGerald, John & Hyland, Marie & Lynch, Muireann & Lyons, Sean & McCoy, Daire & Malaguzzi Valeri, Laura & Walsh, Darragh, 2014. "Irish Energy Policy: An Analysis of Current Issues," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number rs37 edited by FitzGerald, John & Malaguzzi Valeri, Laura, June.
    18. Erdogdu, Erkan, 2014. "Investment, security of supply and sustainability in the aftermath of three decades of power sector reform," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 1-8.
    19. Torriti, Jacopo, 2014. "Privatisation and cross-border electricity trade: From internal market to European Supergrid?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 635-640.
    20. Nepal, Rabindra & Jamasb, Tooraj, 2015. "Caught between theory and practice: Government, market, and regulatory failure in electricity sector reforms," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 16-24.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:105:y:2017:i:c:p:67-79. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.