*Billy Kelleher MEP (FF).
AN IRELAND SOUTH MEP has said the country is at risk of failing to capitalise on its potential as a possible renewable energy superpower because of a lack of grid capacity and interconnectors to mainland Europe.
Billy Kelleher MEP (FF) was commenting after an internal government analysis, gave Ireland a ten percent chance of meeting its Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) targets by 2030. Experts are now predicting that just 1.4 GW of ORE will be installed by 2030.
“A failure to hit our targets will result in Ireland facing massive fines from the European Commission. Progress has been made in recent years. For example, one third of all electricity produced in the Republic last year came from onshore wind farms, and we have finally agreed to build an LNG facility,” he warned.
MEP Kelleher added, “Ultimately, however, we are still highly dependent on imported fossil fuels, mainly gas, to power our economy. To make matters worse, we are highly dependent on one gas line from Scotland to provide us with a significant proportion of our gas needs. Furthermore, when we finally electrify our transport networks and roll out heat pumps in our homes, the demand for electricity will go through the roof.
“If Ireland actually achieved all of its renewable targets, we would end up dumping a lot of the electricity due to a lack of storage and a lack of interconnectors to mainland Europe where it could be sold. Ireland must therefore invest in battery storage and in green hydrogen production to enable us to store or transport our excess energy. To do otherwise would be a major error. We need an urgent plan to increase our base load generation capacity as well as a commitment to build new interconnectors to mainland Europe and Great Britain.
“While the Celtic Interconnector is soon to become operational, it holds nowhere near enough capacity to meet our future needs. For too long, there was an attempt among certain decision makers in Ireland to force us to choose between economic growth and energy consumption. We can and must do both, and fully realise our renewable energy potential,” concluded Kelleher.
