Campaigners opposed to a proposed power line through north-west Donegal have challenged ESB figures on the growth in demand for electricity in the county.
At the opening day of a Bord Pleanala oral hearing into a 110kV power line to run for 110 kilometres in a loop around west and north Donegal, representatives of the Alternative To Pylons (ATP) group said they did not believe there was any "significant" increase in demand in west Donegal. They accepted demand had increased in Letterkenny and surrounding areas.
Prof Michael O'Carroll, a retired pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Scotland who made a submission on behalf of the ATP group, said he believed the proposed line was linked to a need to get power out from a growing number of wind farms in Donegal. This has been denied by the ESB.
Licences have been granted for 10 new wind farms in Co Donegal and Prof O'Carroll said the problem of getting power out could be at the heart of the issue.
Mr Stephen Johnson, a senior consultant with ESB International, said the existing 38kV network in west Donegal could not continue to provide quality of supply. He said there had been "phenomenal growth" in demand.
"The current electricity needs of west and north-west Donegal cannot be supported by a 38kV network which was designed for much lower levels of demand," Mr Johnson said.
Prof O'Carroll said there was a need for a breakdown of figures for demand in different areas of the county. Evidence from the county development plan, he said, indicated there was a falling population and no significant growth in the west of the county.
Prof O'Carroll said he accepted there were problems with the electricity supply in Donegal. "The question is, Are all of these problems genuine and is this the particular solution needed?" There were "other simpler, direct means" to solve problems in other parts of the county. If these were solved, it could then be established if there were genuine problems in west Donegal or if they were not "merely a knock-on effect" of difficulties elsewhere.
Mr John O'Sullivan of An Taisce said that, given the importance of tourism in Donegal, a special case could be made for the Government to pay the extra cost of putting the line underground.
The president of Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce, Mr Michael Boyd, argued in favour of the power line, saying the quality of electricity supply in the county was preventing new industries from locating in Donegal.
Six objections have been lodged with An Bord Pleanala to the proposed power line, which would start south of Glenties and circle the coast before looping back to Letterkenny.
Running for 113 km, it would cross 93 townlands and more than 1,000 landowners would be affected.