Eirgrid says it brought 86% of energy on grid after Blaney claims Donegal wind is being ‘dumped and wasted’
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00:00 And when I speak of this, I can speak only in terms,
00:05 in real terms, in relation to Donegal.
00:06 And the situation in Donegal, as I know it,
00:10 is that of the wind farms and the hydro station
00:13 we have in Donegal, most of the energy
00:17 that's produced there is currently being dumped, wasted.
00:21 And the climate that we're in,
00:22 and the price people are paying for electricity,
00:25 it's not good enough.
00:27 And I have with me here today the air grid,
00:30 grid implementation plan 2023 to 2028.
00:34 And I don't see that plan as fit for purpose
00:37 for the Western seaboard or for places like Donegal.
00:42 And I suppose moreover, the north, northwest,
00:46 and the west is the point on the island
00:51 with the most ability to create that energy into the future.
00:55 And we are not planning for it.
00:57 Our network is not fit for purpose.
01:00 And I'm asking today, what plans do we have
01:04 over and above what's here to move this issue on,
01:09 to ensure that when we do develop the offshore wind,
01:13 that we have a network that is fit for purpose.
01:16 And then moreover, someone needs to drive this
01:19 at a European level.
01:21 The European Union should be driving on,
01:23 considering what we have gone through
01:24 since the war in Ukraine.
01:25 They should be using the current technology that exists
01:29 to join up all member states,
01:30 to ensure that we can buy and sell electricity
01:33 to each state or to each country as need may be.
01:38 And what I see here in front of me,
01:41 certainly doesn't give me any answers or any conclusion
01:47 as to when Donegal will have the network that's required.
01:52 Currently, we're dumping between 21 and 22 hours per day
01:54 out of 24 hours of our resources.
01:58 That's an awful indictment.
02:01 That's an awful waste.
02:02 Donegal, one of the biggest contributors
02:04 in renewable energy, and we're dumping it.
02:07 It's not good enough, Minister.
02:10 And I want to hear solutions today.
02:13 I want to hear a plan of what we're going to do with it.
02:20 There has to be some way of putting that into the network
02:23 because what's happening, can't afford to go on.
02:27 So I'll let you reply and come back.
02:28 - Thanks very much, Senator.
02:30 Minister, you're very welcome to the house.
02:32 - Thank you.
02:33 And thank you, Senator Blaney for asking this question.
02:35 Climate Action Plan 23 sets out a roadmap
02:38 for taking decisive action
02:39 to halve our greenhouse gas emissions by 2030
02:42 and to reach net zero no later than 2050.
02:45 To halve our emissions and to set ourselves
02:46 on the road to net zero,
02:47 we have to deliver and accelerate where possible
02:50 the renewable electricity targets
02:52 that were set in Climate Action Plan 23.
02:54 And they include 80% of electricity demand being met
02:58 from renewable energy by 2030.
03:00 Accelerating the delivery of actions
03:03 within the electricity sector will be key
03:05 to meeting the climate targets
03:06 and staying within our sexual emission ceiling.
03:09 To meet projected demand by 2030
03:11 is going to require enabling various forms
03:13 of renewable electricity.
03:15 And as such, we have set targets to be met.
03:18 And these include nine gigawatts of onshore wind,
03:21 eight gigawatts of solar power,
03:23 and at least five gigawatts of offshore wind.
03:25 To deliver the generation assets required
03:28 and the ability to meet the expected increase in demand,
03:31 we must also deliver a heretofore unprecedented amount
03:35 of national electricity grid infrastructure.
03:38 The Commission for the Regulation of Utilities, the CRU,
03:40 is the independent regulator accountable
03:42 to a committee of the Oireachtas
03:43 and not accountable to me as minister.
03:45 It has been assigned responsibility
03:47 for the regulation of the electricity market.
03:48 And this includes supervision
03:49 of electricity system operators.
03:51 System operators, air grid and ESB networks
03:54 are tasked with building and safely operating
03:56 and maintaining a fit for purpose electricity system.
03:59 As minister, I don't have a role
04:00 in the delivery of electricity grid infrastructure.
04:02 And this is in line with the 2012 government policy statement
04:05 on the strategic importance of transmission
04:07 and other energy infrastructure,
04:09 which states that the government does not seek
04:11 to direct air grid and ESB networks
04:13 or other energy infrastructure developers
04:16 to particular sites or routes or technologies.
04:19 My officials have been and continue to engage
04:22 with system operators on the future
04:23 of the electricity system grid.
04:25 Air grid as transmission system operator must operate
04:29 and develop our high voltage transition network.
04:31 This network carries wholesale electricity
04:34 around the country,
04:35 powering both some large energy consumers
04:37 and the distribution network,
04:39 which in turn powers every electricity customer
04:41 in the country.
04:42 Plan led approaches will play a key role
04:45 in the future electricity system.
04:47 And in July of this year,
04:48 air grid published shaping our electricity future
04:50 version 1.1.
04:51 And this provides their updated roadmap
04:53 for the transmission grid out to 2030,
04:56 necessary to deliver on the renewable energy targets
04:59 as set out in cap 23.
05:01 So to deliver a grid, which is fit for purpose,
05:06 and one which can utilize all envisaged types
05:09 of renewable generation, both on and offshore,
05:11 we have to ensure that our future grid
05:12 has appropriate access to neighboring electricity markets.
05:15 And this is achieved through interconnection.
05:17 The north-south interconnector will link grids north
05:20 and south, and it will form part of the backbone
05:22 of a fit for purpose electricity system,
05:24 helping to ensure energy security
05:26 and reducing electricity costs.
05:28 Air grid is currently engaging
05:29 with local affected communities
05:30 as part of advancing this key project.
05:33 And separately, the Celtic interconnector
05:35 will provide a 700 megawatt link between Ireland
05:38 and the European internal energy market
05:40 by connecting Ireland to France.
05:42 Earlier this month, the delegation
05:43 from the French government visited Ireland
05:44 to mark the start of construction of this key project.
05:47 So I just want to address some of the points
05:50 that Senator Boehme made about Donegal.
05:52 So Donegal isn't referenced in the question
05:54 that I have here, but I'm happy to talk about it.
05:56 You say, Senator, that you believe
05:59 that the vast majority of renewable energy
06:01 being generated is being dumped in Donegal.
06:03 I'm not aware of that.
06:04 I'm happy to look into it.
06:05 That's not right.
06:06 You know, if that's what's happening,
06:07 that shouldn't be happening.
06:09 The north-south interconnector is really important.
06:12 We have had years and years of debate
06:15 and of process and planning and so on,
06:18 but it's now got to the stage
06:20 where everything is fully consented
06:21 and construction and development is underway.
06:24 So we're in the construction phase of that.
06:26 And you know how important it is
06:27 that if we have a situation where there's excess,
06:29 a surplus of electricity available in the north,
06:31 not available in the south,
06:32 that we can balance between the two grids
06:34 and that we can have good interconnection between them.
06:37 We have electricity interconnection to the UK,
06:41 but to nowhere else.
06:42 And France is next,
06:45 but we have plans for three further countries.
06:47 We have about half a gigawatt of interconnection
06:49 outside of Ireland.
06:51 We expect that we will have five gigawatts,
06:52 in other words, 10 times more within a decade by 2033.
06:57 So I'll leave it there.
06:59 - Thank you, Minister.
06:59 Senator Blaney.
07:00 - Thank you very much, Minister.
07:03 And I get that Donegal wasn't part of the question,
07:09 but you can examine it, you can check it out.
07:12 And the reason that they're dumping between 21, 22 hours,
07:17 24 hours every day,
07:19 is that we don't have a network to carry it out of the county
07:22 and one connector with Northern Ireland,
07:23 as I understand it,
07:24 isn't sufficient for our needs into the future.
07:27 And the plans that are in place by the different
07:29 organisations are completely insufficient
07:32 of where to develop the capacity,
07:34 not just in the governance plans, but into the future.
07:38 And moreover, there's an opportunity here
07:40 in this country, as part of the European Union,
07:45 to develop an asset for the government on the island
07:50 using our offshore wind.
07:54 And it's, for me, it's very sickening
07:56 as someone coming from the North and West region
07:59 to see that the first development of offshore
08:02 is on the East Coast.
08:04 And the West Coast is kind of an afterthought.
08:06 And I don't think anybody really cares if it happens,
08:09 if we reach our targets, that's all we really care about.
08:12 It's not good enough.
08:13 It's not good enough that we haven't got a network.
08:16 And I'm asking here today, Minister,
08:18 that you have a look at any goal,
08:19 but moreover, the government needs to take a look
08:22 at the network nationally.
08:24 We need to have a network that's fit for purpose
08:26 into the future to look after all our people
08:28 across all the island.
08:30 - Thanks very much, Senator Blainey.
08:31 Minister.
08:33 - Senator, I would like to work with you
08:36 and find out what's happening to renewable electricity
08:39 being generated in Donegal and just see,
08:41 what point of view has been done.
08:42 I'd like to examine that with you.
08:44 The reason that offshore wind is being developed
08:46 on the East Coast before the West Coast is twofold.
08:49 One is that there's more population on the East Coast,
08:51 but more importantly than that,
08:52 it's easier to put it on the East Coast
08:54 because the waters are shallower.
08:56 The West Coast is windier than the East Coast.
08:58 So there's more potential for generating electricity.
09:01 It's also more beautiful.
09:03 And it's also deeper waters.
09:05 So we believe that the technology that's gonna suit
09:07 the West Coast is gonna be floating wind turbines.
09:09 It's not a commercialized technology yet.
09:11 There are pilot projects, both in Portugal and in Scotland.
09:14 It will be developed in the 2030s,
09:16 but it's gonna be done on the East Coast
09:19 before the West Coast.
09:20 You're absolutely right.
09:21 We need better internal connections
09:23 as well as connections to other countries.
09:25 The North-South interconnector doesn't cross Donegal.
09:27 It's across the border, North and South
09:31 rather than East and West.
09:32 And we are gonna need increases in the grid.
09:35 If you look at AeroGrid's published strategy from July,
09:38 our electricity future,
09:40 have a look at it in regards to Donegal.
09:41 See if you're happy with what's included.
09:43 If you're not happy, come back to me.
09:44 I am a junior minister in that department.