Why clear leadership is key to driving decarbonisation

Government policy needs to empower industry and individuals to be part of the solution to tackling decarbonisation in Ireland while the necessary additional grid infrastructure is being developed.

While EirGrid is moving ahead with some projects to reinforce the system and facilitate connections for renewable energy between now and 2030, stakeholders would like to see an acceleration in relation to substantial energy transmission structures.

Energy interconnector delays

“Every assumption of the energy market ever working between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is based on the North-South Interconnector, which was proposed in 2008 and has just stalled,” says Tony McGuinness, Head of Origination, Market Entry and Storage at Aer Soléir.

“The interconnector projects required for the energy transition are going to be huge, involving overhead lines criss-crossing the country. I don’t think the issue in delivering them is about money; it’s about the fear of losing votes. Because Ireland is so slow in this regard, it’s a big worry in terms of deploying development capital. Developers don’t want to hang around for five years waiting for the North-South Interconnector.”

The renewable energy agenda has to be
visibly pushed by the Department of the
Taoiseach if real progress is to be made.

Enabling large industry to play its part

While waiting for the grid to be fully upgraded, a business model that allows factories and data centres to build their own microgrids with on-site solar and storage seems the obvious solution to help Ireland with the energy transition, according to Chris Collins, Country President Ireland, Schneider Electric.

“For this to happen, the Private Wires Policy Framework needs to be in place [following the publication of guiding principles on this in July]. Our industrial clients have funding available for these types of projects, but if Ireland can’t provide the financial model that makes it feasible, they will go to other markets,” he says.

“The commitment to renewables and sustainability in Ireland is light years ahead of our peers across the pond. At the same time, we have developed over 500 microgrids in the US where the focus is more on energy surety and being able to go off-grid when there’s an emergency. There is more resistance to this type of change in Ireland because we have a monopolistic grid operator.”

Katie Popplestone, Sales and Marketing Manager at Midsummer Renewables, notes that limitations on how much excess energy on-site power generators can feed back into the grid also need to be addressed.

Accountability for driving momentum

Popplestone suggests a quicker way to encourage the energy transition from a policy perspective might be to focus more on smaller businesses and individuals. “We need to foster a waste-not-want-not mentality, ramp up retrofits of homes and increase Building Energy Ratings on buildings and the use of heat pumps – in other words have a government policy that is focused on fully electrifying individuals’ homes and businesses,” she says. 

Katie Popplestone
Sales and Marketing Manager, Midsummer Renewables

“A lot needs to happen around education and understanding of the actual situation in relation to energy consumption and create a movement with the public to push the agenda forward. At the moment, people are feeling their way in the dark and don’t fully understand where their electricity is going, how to save costs and how big wind and solar projects impact them directly. There are so many facets to this, and as a country, we need to make it tangible for people.

“Because various agencies and bodies are involved, the problem is nobody wants to take accountability for driving such an over-arching policy, and we don’t know where the buck would stop with it.”

Ireland needs clear energy vision

Justin Moran, Director of External Affairs at Wind Energy Ireland, believes policies under development, including those on private wires, co-location of assets and large-energy users, will be helpful. However, ultimately, the renewable energy agenda has to be visibly pushed by the Department of the Taoiseach if real progress is to be made.

“It’s not a policy debate any more really; we have a list of policies — the Climate Action Plan is the best shopping list of things we’re ever going to see,” says Conall Bolger, Chief Executive Officer, Irish Solar Energy Association.

“The two things that are absent are the master plan of how this all fits together and the vision of where we’re going — the longer-term energy future and delivery of it by mobilising resources; that is what’s important now.”