Ireland's Energy Plan gets IEA Approval

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- The International Energy Agency (IEA) has praised Ireland's decision to stick to its ambitious renewable energy goals despite the severe economic crisis in the country.

The praise formed part of an in-depth IEA review of Ireland's energy policies. However, the IEA warned that in order to reach those goals and reduce its dependency on imported fossil fuels, the country will have to invest even more in renewable technologies, expand grid integration and improve energy efficiency.

Ireland's stated goal is to produce 40% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, primarily by using its location in the Atlantic Ocean to develop wind and marine energy projects. Complimenting this is the country's energy efficiency plan to achieve 20% energy savings in the same timeframe.

"At a time when many governments are shying away from their commitments to clean energy, Ireland has courageously resisted the temptation to scale back its own," said IEA Executive Director, Maria van der Hoeven, speaking in Dublin at the release of the new study entitled, 'Energy Policies of IEA Countries -- Ireland 2012'. "A lot has been achieved, yet there is more to do. Now is not the time for complacency."

The IEA noted that Ireland is highly dependent on imported oil and gas and that the country will need to rely more on gas-fired power plants to support its shifts towards using more renewable power. Around two-thirds of Ireland's electricity already comes from gas-fired generation, with 93% of its gas supplies coming from a single transit point in Scotland. The IEA said it wants to see more diversification in its supply infrastructure.

The Irish Wind Energy Association (Naas, County Kildare) estimates that Ireland has a wind generation potential of 6,000 megawatts (MW) onshore and 4,000 MW offshore, particularly in the western areas. However, the current grid infrastructure is not sufficiently developed to handle further energy. In November last year, the European Investment Bank (EIB) made a loan of €235 million ($312 million) to the state-owned Electricity Supply Board (ESB) (Dublin), half of what it will cost to overhaul the ageing electricity infrastructure. The project will be completed over the next two years. For additional information, see November 25, 2011, article - Ireland Ready to Upgrade Electricity Grid.

There is growing interconnection between the Irish electricity market with those in Northern Ireland and the U.K. In line with European Union guidelines, Ireland has successfully implemented the all-island Single Electricity Market (SEM) with Northern Ireland to promote more competition. Last October, a ground-breaking project to link Ireland's grid with the U.K. grid got underway. The €600 million ($764 million) East-West Interconnector project involves laying 180 kilometres (km) of undersea and approximately 80km of underground cables between Rush in County Dublin to Barkby Beach in Wales. For additional information see October 28, 2011, article - Ireland-U.K. Interconnector Project Begins.

Commenting in the IEA's findings, Ireland's Minister for Energy, Pat Rabbitte, said: "It's our conviction based on expert advice that we will be able to comfortably realise 40 per cent [of our electricity from renewables] by 2020".

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