The European Commission has sought information from the ESB about a power plant it is building at Ringsend, Dublin.

The move by the Commission's competition directorate general indicates it has renewed scrutiny of the Synergen project, a joint venture between the ESB and Norwegian multinational Statoil.

The ESB and Statoil notified the Commission of the project last year, but it has yet to sanction the plan. The 400 megawatt (MW) gasfired plant is expected to be commissioned early next year, if not in December. A Synergen spokesman said it was looking forward to a "favourable" outcome from the Commission.

Still, senior figures at the State company are understood to have expressed "major" concern that it may be forced to divest its 70 per cent interest in the £200 million (#254 million) plant due to dissatisfaction about the structure and pace of liberalisation in the market.

The company claims to favour deregulation, although its chairman, Mr Tadhg O'Donoghue, has said it had to be "dragged into competition".

The ESB sees the Synergen project as crucial to its strategy as it faces competition from more efficient generation controlled by new competitors.

Its initial investment was sanctioned by the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, only after the company gave her an undertaking to sell its interest if she considered that was necessary to foster competition. But Mr O'Donoghue said at a recent briefing the company would "scream from high heaven" if forced to divest the plant.

The Commission is understood to have made a formal request to the company on June 25th seeking details about the project. Among other data, it wanted information about the structure of ESB business units, and on the regulatory framework and sources of power supply in the market.

In separate correspondence, it asked the company if the initiative had received any State aid. An ESB spokesman said the company responded that it received no subsidy from the State. The competition directorate has kept a close watch on the Synergen project and the Irish market in general.