About Bord Gáis


About Bord Gáis

Bord Gáis Facts & Figures

Bord Gáis Éireann (Bord Gáis) was established in 1976 and is a commercial State body operating in the energy industry. Bord Gáis is a leading energy provider, serving c. 1 million customers including 650,000 gas users in 152 population centres in Ireland and 350,000 electricity customers.  Bord Gáis is majority owned by the Irish Government, with 3.27% of the capital stock transferred to an Employee Share Ownership Plan in return for transformational savings.  The company, headquartered in Cork City, Ireland employs just over 1,000 staff and has a turnover of €1,349 million.

Taking advantage of liberalisation in the energy markets, Bord Gáis entered the business electricity supply market in 2001.  In February 2009, the company entered the residential electricity sector and by year-end had gained over 300,000 additional customers thus increasing its share of the total electricity supply market to 12%. 

Networks

Bord Gáis Networks develops, operates and maintains the natural gas transmission and distribution networks in Ireland and provides gas transportation services to suppliers and shippers, including Bord Gáis Energy.  The natural gas network consists of 13,150km of gas pipelines, including two sub-sea interconnectors with Scotland from where Ireland gets over 93% of its gas supplies.  This work is carried out on behalf of Gaslink, the independent gas system operator for Ireland.  Bord Gáis Networks is also responsible for new gas connections and for work on service pipes and meters at customers' premises.  It manages a full 24-hour emergency response service and handles over 20,000 call-outs a year.

Through the New Connections Programme, Bord Gáis Networks continually brings the benefits of natural gas to new areas in line with CER Policy and constructs and extends the natural gas network to the highest international safety standards.

This 13,150km network includes:

  • · Transmission (cross-country) and Distribution (towns) networks in Ireland
  • · Two sub-sea interconnectors linking Ireland with Scotland. Interconnector 1 and Interconnector 2
  • · An on-shore system in Scotland
  • · A spur-line to the Isle of Man
  • · The North-West pipeline from Belfast to Derry in Northern Ireland.
  • · The Mayo-Galway pipeline, to bring gas from the Corrib field into the national grid
  • · The South-North pipeline from Gormanston, Co. Meath, to Belfast to secure long-term gas supplies for Northern Ireland

Management of the gas pipeline network is a sophisticated 24-hour operation involving constant monitoring through Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, including Geographic Information System (GIS). Safety is the top priority of Bord Gáis Networks and one of our core values.  Bord Gáis Networks is committed to the further development and maintenance of the necessary systems, processes and resources in order to promote continuous safety improvement and performance.   2009 saw the completion of the Cast-Iron Mains Renewal Programme ensuring that the Bord Gáis Networks Distribution Network ranks highly against its European counterparts.

Bord Gáis is licenced by NIAUR to supply natural gas to 10 towns in Northern Ireland. firmus energy, Bord Gáis’ distribution and supply business in Northern Ireland, is in the process of extending the network and connecting customers in the selected towns.

Energy

Bord Gáis Energy is a dual-fuel, all-island business that serves approximately 1 million gas and electricity customers with exemplary service at a competitive price, procuring energy efficiently on wholesale markets and investing in energy assets to support its growth objectives in the energy markets in Ireland.

Bord Gáis Energy is the retail arm of Bord Gáis, selling gas and electricity to all market segments, with related activities including call centre management, billing and sales and marketing.   Bord Gáis Energy is developing a new energy efficient Home Services range of products and services for customers, building on it successful appliance servicing business. 

Bord Gáis Trading is responsible for the procurement of gas and electricity, risk management and hedging strategies. Gas and electricity are bought on wholesale markets by a dedicated Energy Trading team operating 19 hours a day. Bord Gáis Trading operates in line with best international practice, is benchmarked against the market against a regulatory formula and has been proven to procure energy efficiently.

Bord Gáis Investments is responsible for pursuing and developing growth opportunities in assets in the energy markets in Ireland, underpinning the strategy to become a leading dual-fuel energy company. The unit is currently constructing a 445MW gas-fired power plant, operating 218MW of wind generation with a further 565MW of wind generation being developed, and investing in up to 300MW of peaking plants to support renewable energy. It is also evaluating the viability of developing a salt cavern gas storage facility in Northern Ireland.

firmus energy, a subsidiary of Bord Gáis operating in Northern Ireland, won the supply and distribution licences for ten towns in 2005.  firmus energy now supplies gas to 90% of the large industrial / commercial businesses in these towns.  In addition, it holds supply licences for both the natural gas market in Greater Belfast and electricity across the province.

Bord Gáis Management

The Board of Bord Gáis currently consists of nine members, the Chief Executive and eight non-executive Board Members (including the Chairman) who are appointed by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

The Management Team, headed up by the Chief Executive, is responsible for the day to day management of the company.
Click here for a full list of Board Members and Management Team

Governance Structure

As a statutory body, Bord Gáis does not have a memorandum or articles of association. Instead, its objects, powers and duties or ‘functions’ and the provisions regulating its exercise of these functions are set out in the Gas Acts 1976 to 2002 and associated legislation. Please refer to our Corporate Governance section for further information.

Employees

Bord Gáis employs just over 1000 staff and is headquartered at Gasworks Road, Cork.

2009 Business Achievement Highlights

  • Refreshed Corporate Strategy rolled out company-wide which paved the way for Bord Gáis’ successful entry into the Irish domestic electricity market in February 2009;
  • Acquired company’s first wind farm development in Co. Galway;
  • Significant progress on the construction of the company’s 445MW gas-fired power plant at Whitegate;
  • Continued to renew and expand the gas networks;
  • Connected five new towns to natural gas;
  • Number of gas users increased by 4% to 630,000;
  • Expansion of business in Northern Ireland and entered the competitive Greater Belfast market;
  • Sought an increase in its statutory borrowing limit to €3 billion to allow for future investments – this was granted in February 2009;
  • Increased presence in the business electricity market and successfully launched into the domestic electricity market in February 2009.

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