Northern Ireland Electricity

Northern Ireland Electricity Networks Limited (NIE Networks) is the electricity asset owner of the transmission and distribution infrastructure in Northern Ireland, established in 1993 when the business was privatised. NIE Networks does not generate or supply electricity. Since 2010 it has been a subsidiary of ESB Group.

NIE Networks has three transmission interconnectors with the transmission grid in the Republic of Ireland. The main interconnector was built in 1970 between Tandragee and County Louth but The Troubles saw the interconnector destroyed in 1975 and left in that state for twenty years until repair.

NIE Networks should not be confused with Power NI, its own former supply business, which was not part of the sale to the ESB and remains owned by Energia. NIE Energy changed its name to Power NI on 25 July 2011, as ESB retained the NIE name in Northern Ireland.

History

Background

Electricity supplies in Ulster started in the early 1890s with the establishment of electricity undertakings by both Belfast Corporation and Londonderry Corporation. The co-ordination of supplies within the new Northern Ireland took place in 1931 with the foundation of the Electricity Board for Northern Ireland. The ownership of the all public power stations in Northern Ireland was vested in the Electricity Board in 1949.

Belfast Corporation

Belfast Corporation Electricity Department gained the authority to generate and sell electricity under the provisions of the Belfast Electric Lighting Order 1890, confirmed by the Electric Lighting Orders Confirmation (No. 7) Act 1890. The corporation's area of supply was 83 square miles with a population of 502,000 (1958). By 1958 there were three electricity generating stations at Belfast East, Belfast West and East Bridge.

Belfast East power station (formerly Harbour power station) comprised eight turbo-alternator generating sets: 1 × 6 MW British Thomson-Houston, 2 × 15 MW, 1 × 18.75 MW and 4 × 30 MW Metropolitan Vickers, a total electricity capacity of 174.75 MW. These were supplied with up to 2,010,000 pounds per hour (253 kg/s) of steam from 18 Babcock and Stirling coal-fired boilers.

{| class="wikitable"

|+Belfast Corporation electricity supply statistics

!Year (ended 31 March)

!Consumers

!Electricity sold, GWh

!Revenue from sales, £

!1946

|92,254

|374.229

|1,547,718

!1947

|96,956

|402.782

|1,568,493

!1948

|102,748

|426.937

|1,725,653

!1949

|107,595

|285.024

|1,476,917

!1950

|114,618

|315.471

|1,637,869

!1954

|135,679

|395.310

|2,443,836

!1955

|138,866

|427.465

|2,661,437

!1956

|141,987

|440.618

|2,882,817

!1957

|146,730

|464.307

|3,297,157

!1958

|149,627

|483.740

|3,673,790

!1960

|155,066

|531.603

|4,272186

!1961

|157,278

|572.210

|4,534,187

Londonderry Corporation

Londonderry Corporation Electricity Department gained the authority to generate and sell electricity in Derry under the provisions of the Londonderry Electric Lighting Order 1891 confirmed by the Electric Lighting Orders Confirmation (No. 3) Act 1891. Further powers were given by the Londonderry Corporation Act 1918. Electricity supplies commenced in May 1894. In 1959, the committee comprised C. A. R. Shillington (chair), R. P. Watson, and T. G. Christie.

Northern Ireland Electricity Service (NIES)

On 1 April 1973, the Northern Ireland Electricity Service (NIES) was formed as a public utility to generate, transmit and supply electricity to Northern Ireland. It was established by the (SI 1972/1072).

During the Ulster Workers' Council strike in 1974, when electricity supplies were severely disrupted, the government considered generating power using a Royal Navy nuclear submarine in Belfast Lough but the idea was abandoned as being technically unfeasible.

Establishment and divestments

In 1991, the company was incorporated as a government-owned public limited company, Northern Ireland Electricity plc. In 1992 the power stations at Belfast Harbour, Ballylumford, Coolkeeragh and Kilroot were demerged and sold. In 1993 the remainder of NIE (transmission, supply and retail businesses) was privatised as Northern Ireland Electricity plc. In 1998, Northern Ireland Electricity plc became part of Viridian Group plc, with Northern Ireland Electricity a subsidiary of that holding company.

NIE Networks sold SONI, the operator of the transmission network, to EirGrid in March 2009 for £30 million.

Purchase by the ESB

On 7 July 2010, BBC News reported that the ESB was to purchase NIE for £1 billion. In September 2010, unionist politicians Peter Robinson and the then Sir Reg Empey wrote to the Taoiseach objecting to the transaction. They said it was "inappropriate" and that it amounted to the purchase of a "key component" of Northern Ireland's infrastructure. The ESB is a statutory corporation within the Republic of Ireland, whose board members are appointed by the Irish government. The acquisition was completed in December 2010 at a reported cost of £1.2bn.

NIE Networks remains an autonomous organisation with its own board and management teams, and separate regulation via the Utility Regulator.

Operations

Overview

The company's operations consist of ownership of the electricity transmission and distribution networks in Northern Ireland, consisting of 30,000 miles (49,000 kilometers) of overhead lines and underground cables, 75,000 pole-mounted transformers and 340 major substations. As of 2023, NIE Networks transports power to over 910,000 business and domestic customers.

NIE Networks is also the electricity distribution network operator for Northern Ireland. It is not the electricity transmission system operator, as this role is fulfilled by the System Operator for Northern Ireland (SONI), a subsidiary of EirGrid since 2009.

Incident management

NIE Networks has developed a set of procedures for dealing with major incidents, such as storms and snow, driven by the Boxing Day Storm of 1998, during which 162,000 customers were off-supply.