Ireland needs much more pylons and underground cables to meet green energy target

Ireland will not meet its renewable energy targets without more pylons and underground cables — particularly on the coast and Midlands — to upgrade the national power network, the wind energy industry has insisted.

Noel Cunniffe, chief executive of industry representatives Wind Energy Ireland, told an Oireachtas committee that politicians and communities must swing behind the need for structures if the country is to ‘green’ its grid.

“We are starting to reach a point now where the electricity grid will need further levels of reinforcement, really specifically around the coast to deliver offshore energy and in the midlands to deliver onshore renewables as well,” he said.

Eirgrid, which operates the national grid, admits that a report it published last November which proposed more than 200km of new power lines, some on pylons overhead, is already outdated.

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“The blueprint is predicated on achieving the then government target of meeting 70 per cent of electricity consumption through renewable sources,” an Eirgrid spokesman said.

“That target has since increased to 80 per cent, and our engineers are currently carrying out studies to see how this might be achieved.”

A new version of the report is being worked on.

Mr Cunniffe said Irish ports also need huge investment to allow them to upgrade so they can be used to build offshore wind farms. At present, Belfast Port is the only facility that has the capacity to build the infrastructure.

While the northern port is “first class”, Ireland “can not deliver its offshore energy ambitions from a single port”, he told the joint committee on enterprise, trade and employment.

“If we don’t have suitable facilities, we will have to build them in Britain, France and the Netherlands. We could end up supporting jobs in Cherbourg and Rotterdam,” he added.

Mr Cunniffe said upgrading ports to enable them to build wind farms could create 80 jobs per facility. The overall industry has the potential to create thousands more jobs.

“We have an enormous marine area. We are the envy of Europe. We cannot only become energy independent ourselves, but we can become a huge exporter of energy,” he told TDs and Senators.

There are currently 6,000 people employed in wind energy in Ireland, including operators, planners, hauliers, supply chain workers and specialists in the banking industry.

However, the industry insists the Government needs to be more ambitious in its targets for renewables, calling for a carbon-neutral power grid by 2035.

Separately, Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan said “tens of billions of euro” will be needed to meet Ireland’s renewables target by 2030.

In response to a parliamentary question, he said the cost includes the installation and maintenance of generation assets and infrastructure, transmission services and the development of supply chains and port infrastructure.

One estimate on the cost of switching to renewables is believed to be between €15 billion and €25 billion, which would be paid through electricity bills over 20 to 25 years.

Investment in the energy sector tends to be made by private investors or through semi-State companies such as the ESB and Eirgrid. SSE has secured permission for onshore works required for phase two of its wind farm off the Co Wicklow coast.