THE START of work yesterday on laying a marine interconnector between the Irish and British electricity grids is a very significant development “symbolic of linking Ireland, a geographically isolated island, to the single European energy market”, as Minister for Energy Pat Rabbitte noted.
It will enable us not only to import electricity from Britain – and, indeed, the European mainland – but also to export the power being generated increasingly by wind farms in Ireland when this is in excess of our own day-to-day requirements.
The 500-megawatt interconnector, running between North Beach in Rush, Co Dublin, and Barkby Beach in Wales is now estimated to cost €600 million – much more than its original estimate – but its construction is being aided by a €110 million grant from the European Commission, in the interest of further integration of the EU electricity market. With 1,500 megawatts of wind capacity already connected to the national grid and more projects on the way, wind energy is making an unprecedented contribution to meeting Ireland’s peak electricity demand of 5,000 megawatts. Not only is wind carbon neutral, but it will ultimately mean lower electricity prices, after initial capital investment is repaid. In the meantime, consumers are required to subsidise wind generation – though the overall cost of this support mechanism, which also includes peat-fired power plants, will fall from €156 million to €92 million over the next 12 months. The subsidy for heavily carbon-emitting peat is seen as justified because it is an indigenous fuel and contributes to our energy security.
Much more positive is the news that ESB International intends to begin building the State’s first full-scale ocean energy project off the west coast next year. Although relatively small in its ambition, at just five megawatts, the €40 million WestWave project could be a harbinger of a major drive to harness the power inherent in Atlantic waves. Indeed, there is a race under way between several companies to develop the most effective technologies for this challenge. A successful outcome would ensure a significant global contribution to the generation of new energy sources.
It is clear that Ireland will need more power lines to transmit electricity from increasingly diverse sources, but there has been growing opposition to pylons marching across the landscape. More sensitivity needs to be shown in the planning of transmission lines. EirGrid should also be considering a new design, such as the recent competition-winning “T-Pylon” in Britain.