Tapbury Management plans to install battery technology developed by Canadian firm VRB Power Systems at its wind farm at Sorne Hill in Buncrana, Co Donegal, if the talks are successful.

Although the SEI has no direct influence on wholesale prices, its reports and recommendations can have a significant effect on government energy policy, particularly with regard to market supports.

The move comes a month after a feasibility study into the technology conducted jointly by Tapbury and SEI indicated that it could increase the reliability of wind energy supply and reduce the amount of back-up generating systems needed to provide cover for wind power during calm weather conditions.

It could also solve the potential future issue of what to do with any excess power generated by high wind levels at times of low electricity demand, which has been highlighted by national grid operator Eirgrid in recent weeks.

John Ward, a director of Tapbury, said the current pricing regime in Ireland meant it was uneconomical to install batteries. He said a typical wind farm without storage technology is paid between 57 and 58 per megawatt hour (MW/h) of energy it produces, compared to 86 per MW/h for a typical fossil fuel plant.

"What we're saying is that we should get a price somewhere in between, which means that you can get the same level of return as if you had a wind farm without storage, " said Ward.

Ward said storage technology could revolutionise the Irish wind energy market, which has been constrained in recent years by concerns over security of supply.

"Effectively what you are doing with the battery technology is you're turning a wind farm powered by something you can't predict into a midmerit power station."

A spokeswoman for SEI said it was unable to comment on its discussions with Tapbury. She said, however, that advanced energy storage technology was ones of it priority areas for research, development and demonstration.