Irish power regulators may delay I-SEM launch to third quarter

LONDON (ICIS)–The Irish and Northern Irish electricity regulators are consulting with market participants about the possibility of delaying the launch of Ireland’s redesigned power market to either July or September, ICIS understands.

The integrated single electricity market (I-SEM) is currently due to go live on 23 May, but the regulators warned in March that this date was at risk.

A spokeswoman for Northern Ireland’s Utility Regulator told ICIS on Friday that a number of market participants had contacted the regulators in recent weeks expressing concerns about the readiness of the new market.

The spokeswoman said that, while no formal consultation was being conducted, the concerns of participants were being taken into account ahead of a decision on the go-live date that will be made public on or before 26 April.

No launch date has yet been communicated officially.

But a source close to the matter told ICIS on Friday that the regulators have contacted certain market participants about the possibility of delaying the I-SEM launch to either July or September this year. The Utility Regulator spokeswoman was unable to confirm this.

Irish transmission system operator EirGrid previously said that unresolved third-party IT issues had been behind the March delay warning.

I-SEM was originally due to launch on 1 October 2017, see ICIS Briefing , but the regulators pushed this date back in late 2016 to allow more time for participants to trial the market’s new systems.

Utility Regulator told ICIS that it remains committed to the 23 May launch date. christopher.somers@icis.com