Gas (Amendment) Act, 2000
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Interpretation. |
1.—(1) In this Act— | |
“Act of 1997” means the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 ; | ||
“Act of 1999” means the Electricity Regulation Act, 1999 ; | ||
“applicant” and “application” have the meanings assigned to them by section 3 (1); | ||
“capacity” means, in relation to the natural gas network, capacity on a firm or an interruptible basis; | ||
“Code of Operations” means the document, dated 16 July 1999, bearing that title and published by the Transmission Division of the Board, together with any amendments as may from time to time be made to it; | ||
“Commission” means the Commission for Electricity Regulation; | ||
“company” has the same meaning as it has in the Corporation Tax Acts; | ||
“contract for standard service” means a contract for the transmission of natural gas whereby the Board agrees to make natural gas available at a point of delivery in accordance with the Code of Operations; | ||
“firm capacity” means capacity of the type which is similar to the type of capacity that would be provided under a contract entered into pursuant to section 10 if that contract were a contract for standard service; | ||
“generate” means, in relation to electricity, to produce electricity; | ||
“generating station” means a station for the generation of electricity, the rated generating capacity of which is more than 25 megawatts; | ||
“grid code” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 1999; | ||
“interruptible capacity” means capacity which is made available by way of capacity transfer under and in accordance with the terms of the Code of Operations as those terms have effect— | ||
(a) having regard to any modifications required to be made to the normal terms and conditions by section 10 (5); | ||
(b) so as to allow capacity made available by those means to a person selected to be withdrawn for reasons other than, or in addition to, those provided in the said code for— | ||
(i) a period or periods not exceeding 240 hours in total in any period of 12 months, or | ||
(ii) such longer period as the Commission may specify having due regard to the physical capability of the natural gas network at the location of the generating station concerned, | ||
in such circumstances as may be specified by the Commission for the purposes of this Act (which the Commission is hereby empowered to specify); | ||
“Minister” means the Minister for Public Enterprise; | ||
“natural gas network” means the network of pipelines used by the Board for the transmission of natural gas; | ||
“normal terms and conditions” shall be construed in accordance with section 10 (2); | ||
“planned generating station” shall be construed in accordance with section 3 (1); | ||
“Principal Act” means the Gas Act, 1976 ; | ||
“rated generating capacity”, in relation to a planned generating station, shall be construed in accordance with section 3 (1); | ||
“regulations” means regulations under section 2 (2); | ||
“relevant purposes” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 (1); | ||
“relevant rights” means— | ||
(a) the right, by virtue of regulations, to employ, for the relevant purposes, the procedure specified in section 10 , and | ||
(b) (i) (other than in section 10 ) the right, on foot of a contract which has been entered into with the Board in consequence of the employment of that procedure, to use for those purposes the amount of the capacity of the natural gas network that has been determined in respect of the holder of the right under the regulations, | ||
(ii) (in section 10 ) the right that will arise, on foot of such a contract when it has been entered into, to so use the said amount of such capacity; | ||
“total available capacity” shall be construed in accordance with section 2 (7); | ||
“transmission or distribution system” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 1999; | ||
“standard cubic metres” means cubic metres expressed at 40Mj/cubic metre calorific value. | ||
(2) References in this Act to a person being selected shall be construed as references to the person being selected in accordance with the procedure referred to in section 2 (3)(a) and cognate references shall be construed accordingly. | ||
(3) References in this Act to a holder of relevant rights using, for the relevant purposes, an amount of the capacity of the natural gas network shall be construed as including references to the holder using, for those purposes, that amount through an agent (being an agent approved in writing for the purpose by the Commission before the agent makes such use of that amount on behalf of the holder). | ||
(4) In determining, for the purposes of this Act— | ||
(a) whether one company is an associated company of another company, section 432 (subject to the modification specified in subsection (5)) and the other relevant provisions of Part 13 of the Act of 1997 shall apply, | ||
(b) whether a person has control of a company, section 432 of the said Act and the other relevant provisions of the said Part shall apply. | ||
(5) The modification of section 432 of the Act of 1997 mentioned in subsection (4)(a) is the deletion in subsection (1) of “or at any time within one year previously”. | ||
(6) In this Act— | ||
(a) a reference to a section is a reference to a section of this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended, | ||
(b) a reference to a subsection or paragraph is a reference to the subsection or paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended, | ||
(c) a reference to any other enactment shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, extended or adapted by or under any subsequent enactment, including this Act. |