The European Commission today said it has cleared joint venture agreements between the ESB and Norway's Statoil relating to the Synergen power plant in Dublin.
The clearance is subject to compliance with commitments to put 600 megawatts of electricity at the market's disposal until additional electricity sources become available.
This corresponds to about half of the needs of customers which have a right to choose their electricity supplier.
EU competition commissioner Mr Mario Monti said: "The Irish electricity market is still dominated by ESB and the agreements effectively remove an important potential customer."
READ MORE
However, Mr Monti noted that the case is a good example of what competition policy can do for energy liberalisation.
AFP