Several ESB plants could be in danger of running out of peat supplies if an industrial relations row within Bord na Móna is not resolved. Emmet Oliver reports.

It is understood that in recent days supplies of milled peat have not been arriving at ESB's peat-burning stations in the midlands via train due to industrial relations problems. A row over company bonuses is believed to be the cause, but Bord na Móna last night could not make anyone available to comment.

The ESB is monitoring the situation and it has significant stockpiles of milled peat. Some supplies are arriving via truck but this is slow and cumbersome. It is not clear whether the action by the company's train drivers is official or unofficial.

There is no suggestion at this stage that either of the ESB's peat-burning stations - Lanesboro, Co Longford and Shannonbridge, Co Offaly - will have their electricity output disrupted. In fact, repairs have been taking place at the Shannonbridge plant, meaning milled peat supplies have been building up at the plant.

Of the 2.7 million tonnes of peat Bord na Móna produces each year, over a million goes to the ESB for power generation. Another million tonnes go to the privately owned Edenderry power plant, also in Offaly.

It is not clear whether this plant has been affected by the industrial relations problems. Bord na Móna uses the rest of its milled peat to supply its horticulture business, with the remainder used to make peat briquettes.

The railways used by Bord na Móna have been in existence for decades and involve complex engineering. In the early 1990s a Bord na Móna locomotive replacement programme was initiated and a new locomotive was designed by the company's engineers. It was discovered that by contracting the building of these locomotives to its own employees the machines could be provided at about 60 per cent of the capital cost of purchasing an equivalent model.

Further research and development work is being undertaken in Bord na Móna with the intention of reducing transportation costs.

Radical changes have been taking place at Bord na Móna over the past decade. Between 1996 and 1998, the Government invested IR£108 million in Bord na Móna, to be used exclusively for the cancellation of its debts.

The investment was accompanied by a related reduction in the price of milled peat sold to the ESB. On January 1st, 1999, Bord na Móna became a public limited company.