Secondary treatment for nitrous oxide emissions could increase the ESB's bill to reduce pollution at its Moneypoint power station to €279 million.
The ESB board will have to decide over the next 15 months whether the Co Clare plant will stay open past January 1st, 2008.
An ESB spokesman confirmed the crunch date of June 2004 for Moneypoint yesterday as it emerged that the ESB and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are at odds over the scale of environmental measures needed to reduce pollution levels at the coal-burning station by 2008.
If the ESB is forced to put in place the additional investment, the board will have to decide whether spending €279 million on environmental controls is economically feasible.
The 915 mega-watt station, which supplies a quarter of the State's electricity, is the single biggest contributor to Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions through the release of sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxides.
In order to comply with a recently granted Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) licence for the plant from the EPA, the ESB is seeking to reduce emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxides by 80 per cent and 50 per cent respectively.
An ESB spokesman said yesterday the company can apply for a derogation to continue operating until 2010.
The ESB estimates that the costs of installing the environmental controls at the station could be as high as €175 million. However, it is likely the overall cost will now run to €279 million to put in place secondary treatment for nitrous oxides.
An EPA spokesman said yesterday: "I wouldn't think primary treatment alone will meet the emission limits as set down in the licence."
If that is the case, the ESB will be forced to invest an additional €104 million on a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) process. The need for the SCR prior to 2008 is disputed by the ESB, with a spokesman stating the company believes these works are not required to achieve the targets set by the licence.
Labour's environment spokesman, Mr Eamon Gilmore, said yesterday that "if secondary treatment is required, the writing is on the wall for Moneypoint".
