21 minute read
Environment Minister Eamon Ryan TD outlines government plans
Doubling carbon reduction ambitions
Minister for Environment, Climate Action and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD, outlines progress on the Government’s plans to double its carbon emission reduction targets to 7 per cent over the next decade.
Setting the context for the “historic need for change” in Ireland, Minister Ryan says that as the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Accord approaches, it’s important to remember the provision within the accord for countries to “review progress, raise ambitions and outline an enhanced path to meet the objective of trying to keep global temperature increase below an average of 1.5oC”, within those five years.
“It’s a challenge beyond compare,” states the Minister, setting out that Ireland is committed to doing this as a country within the European Union and in co-operation with the wider world.
Outlining the context in which Ireland has set its ambitions, the Minister says that the recent decision by the Chinese Government to enhance their ambition does not just boost the likelihood of achieving the global temperature goal but also provides “real certainty” that this is where the modern economy is heading and where competition is going to take place.
Additionally, Ryan says he has been encouraged by the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s decision to set an ambition of a 55 per cent reduction of emissions by 2030. “I hope under the German presidency we can commit to net zero carbon neutral by 2050, which is the very latest we need to do it if we are to meet those climate targets.
“I mention the wider context because it puts in frame what we’re doing or trying to do in Ireland,” states the Minister. “We’re on a good path in terms of getting the governance right, starting with the Citizens’ Assembly asking the right question: ‘How could we be leaders rather than laggards on climate?’
“I think we did better again when we set up the Joint Oireachtas Climate Committee in the last Dáil, which looked at the findings of the Citizens’ Assembly and assessed what these meant in practice and what we would need to do. The then-Minister Richard Bruton did a really good job to turn that into a Climate Action Plan
“Now, this government is saying we need to take that and do more. We need to double the level of ambition to go from not just a 3.5 per cent cut of emissions but to go for a 7 per cent cut on average over the next decade.”
Outlining the scale of this challenge, the Minister believes that it is one “far
greater” than that of the EU’s, as Ireland is starting from a lower base.
Recounting a recent meeting with the European Commission’s Vice President Frans Timmermans, Ryan says that he agreed with the Vice President’s assessment that those countries who are most ambitious in decarbonisation are the ones who will gain the most economic advantage and therefore lower the cost of the transition.
“Another thing he said, which I believe to be critically true, is that there will be no transition unless it is a just transition. We have to do this at speed, but we also have to bring our people with us. To do that we have to ensure that we eradicate fuel poverty at the same time that we eradicate pollutions and emissions from our energy mix.”
Progress
Setting out the pathways to achieving this, the Minister says that governance is important for setting a stable planning environment. Additionally, a stable political and policy environment gives people in the industry certainty that this is the right investment to make.
“We’re introducing a new Climate Bill, amending the 2015 Act, which puts in place a stronger Climate Advisory Council and a stronger planning and policy process towards meeting this new target of net zero carbon,” explains Ryan.
“It will do so by setting three five-year plans, which the Climate Advisory Council will budget and present their outline. We the Government will work with the Joint Oireachtas Committee to assess those and I will be working with each of the sectoral ministers in each of the different areas to see how we do it and hopefully, out of that process, we agree these budgets and we set ourselves on the course.”
Ryan says that while the timeline is tight, he hopes the Bill will be legislated for by December, the five-year anniversary of the Paris Climate Accord.
He adds: “We’ll then have to enhance and give additional resources to the Climate Advisory Council and to my own department to do the modelling, planning and budgeting work to actually start drafting this plan.”
Credit: Houses of the Oireachtas.
At the same time, the European Union will be legislating for a similar target. Having recently published their own impact statement on how they believe it will work on a Europe-wide basis, the EU says that it will work with individual countries as to how to do that at a local level.
“We’re starting on a good track,” states Ryan, pointing to political agreement across all parties of the need for 70 per cent renewable electricity on the system by 2030 to help meet the overall target.
“That’s a hugely challenging and demanding task and we will be testing the edge of the envelope of what’s possible, but we have real capability. EirGrid and others have real skills. The developers in this country, in this area, know how to do it and by doing it, we will learn expertise that we can share and sell to the rest of the world.”
The Minister says that progress can be recognised in the success of September’s Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) auction, where 82 renewable projects were successful, including almost 800MW of solar farms, which are being rolled out at scale for the first time.
“Critically, within that we started the auction for community energy projects, only seven of them, but I think that sets a course of where we need to go further in future. Future auctions will very much
concentrate and try to support that community ownership development because it’s vital that if we are to have this as a just transition that we’ve got public support for what we have to do.”
Turning to the range of work that needs to be done by his department to help make the job of meeting the target easier, Ryan says: “I want to see the wind energy guidelines agreed with my colleagues in government before the end of the year. We need that because what we are seeing is some of the ways we can bring down the costs in our system are offering greater certainty on the planning side.
“That will be good for local communities as well,” the Minister says, pointing to the potential detrimental impact of legal challenges. “It’s better for us to have the standards right, to have certainty and to then actually get on with the job. And, particularly working with local communities, to make sure they are a part of our overall approach.”
The Minister says that another key element which will also reduce costs is the development of the electricity grid. “We’re starting to see already, even with the levels of renewables that we have now, that the levels of constraint and curtailment is making projects less economic and pushing up costs,” he 4 explains.
Distribution
The Minister emphasises that alongside building out the grid, Ireland must continue to invest and build in enabling large infrastructure projects, such as the North South Interconnector, but also bring that investment back to a local level.
“We need to advance and invest in our distribution grid, as well as our transmission grid, so that we actually get good at the balancing of this renewable power supply to make this revolution work,” he explains.
“That’s the heart of the change happening. It’s the efficiency side, the demand management side, which is just as important as the generation side, particularly as we move to electrifying our transport and heating systems, as well as our industry systems.”
The Minister says advancement of the distribution grid will not be possible if there is no sophistication around the balancing of supply and demand. This, he adds, will offer the essential requirement to develop microgeneration.
“The old adage that microgeneration won’t be manageable on the distribution grid is no longer true,” he states. “Microgeneration will actually help strengthen the grid by using power at a local level and by giving capability to send and export power two ways, so that it actually does balance together.”
Retrofit and offshore wind
Turning to two major projects which the government are committed to progressing. Ryan points to the ambition to deep retrofit around 50,000 homes annually, which he says will deliver huge benefits in job creation and increased health and wellbeing.
Investment in retrofitting, announced in the Government’s July stimulus plan will “get us away from the start stop nature of that industry in recent years”, he says. Additionally, Budget 2021 saw the launch of the national retrofit programme through SEAI with a significant scaling up and streamlining of retrofit programmes for homes and communities. The €221 million allocation for homes and community retrofits represented an 82 per cent increase on the 2020 Budget.
Ryan also points to plans to introduce a major retrofitting scheme by late this year/early next year to set out how they are going to work with local authorities to release funding for their ability to retrofit social homes.
Another project pointed to by Ryan which he believes is critical to the “economic development” of Ireland in the coming decades is the development of offshore wind. The Programme for Government has set a target of 5GW of wind power in the Irish Sea by 2030 and 30GW of floating offshore wind on the west, north west and south west of the country in the subsequent decade and beyond.
Ryan believes that that those ambitions can be delivered in an even quicker time than set out in the Programme for Government. He plans to launch an auction system towards the end of 2021 on some of the offshore farm development plans within the Irish Sea. However, he admits that development of the west coast will require long-term planning but says that built up experience over the past decade is a solid basis for making it happen.
Ryan admits that for progress, much needs to be done in this area. “We need to develop port facilities to be able to service that,” he states, adding: “We will also need to continue to interconnect with our neighbours, both the UK and France and beyond, so that we’re part of a north west European electricity market for this to work. No matter what happens with Brexit, we will need cooperate with the UK. If they opt for an isolated energy system it would be incredibly expensive and not in their interest, not in our interest or in the interest of Europe.
“So, whatever happens in the Brexit talks, I’m committed to try to work to try and maintain that sort of cooperation in the coming years.”
Concluding, the Minister points back to the last time he held the energy portfolio, when scepticism existed around meeting the renewable electricity target of 40 per cent per annum and the economic damage striving for this might cause.
“The exact opposite was the case. We’re meeting that target, we’re benefitting from that power and we have a comparative competitive advantage and skills in this green new economy.
“We’re going to meet the 70 per cent target and be really good, in particular, on the demand side, combining the digital revolution with the energy revolution that is taking place. This is an opportunity that is available to all of us and should be seized upon not just because it is economically good and good for jobs but because it is the key project to protect our planet and our people into the future.”
A climate neutral economy
The publication of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2020 represents efforts to enshrine Ireland’s enhanced climate ambitions into law.
In October, within 100 days of the formation of the coalition government, as promised by the new Programme for Government, the Government introduced to the Dáil the draft text of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2020, designed to set the country on course to become climate neutral.
The enshrining of Ireland’s increased climate targets, outlined in the Programme for Government, into law is in parallel with the European Commission’s move to do the same. The European Climate Law proposes a legally binding target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, meaning that EU institutions and member states are bound to take the necessary measures at EU and national level to meet the target.
In laying the Climate Action Bill, the Government said it would make Ireland a “leader” when it comes to climate action.
The main feature of the Bill is the commitment into law for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, through a National 2050 Climate Objective, meaning that the State will pursue the transition to a climate resilient and climate neutral economy by the end of the year 2050. However, the Bill also establishes a system of three successive five-year economy-wide carbon budgets set to start in 2021, including a provision for setting sectoral targets.
“A graduating carbon budgetary process, and sectoral decarbonisation target ranges will provide a clear signal and pathways to drive future investment, allowing us to both reach our climate targets and stimulate job creation in new sectors such as retrofitting and renewable energy, the circular economy, clean mobility, green and blue infrastructure, sustainable agriculture and the bio-economy,” the Government says.
A further provision of the Bill is for annual revisions of the Climate Action Plan and the development of a National Long Term Climate Action Strategy at least once every decade. Importantly, the Bill requires local authorities to develop a five-year Climate Action Plan.
The Climate Change Advisory Council is to be given a strengthened role in advising and proposing carbon budgets to government and the Bill envisages greater accountability and oversight by the Oireachtas with all relevant ministers required to give account for their sectors annually.
While largely welcomed in the main, pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill has seen some criticism levelled at ‘loose language’ within. At the Oireachtas
Climate Action Committee, Independent Senator Alice Mary Higgins suggested the Bill “was walking back from concrete climate commitments by Ireland” because of the absence of strong interim targets.
However, Department of Environment, Climate and Communications Assistant Secretary Brian Carroll rejected the claim, stating that carbon budgets would “lock in ambition that is in the Programme for Government”.
One notable omission from the Bill is the Programme for Government commitment to ban the sale or importation of petrol and diesel cars from 2030. The commitment was included in the National Development Plan, the 2019 Climate Action Plan and the Programme for Government but not the Bill. Despite this, the Government has said it is committed to introducing the ban.
Programme for Government
Key to Ireland meeting its 2050 targets will be the progress over the next decade. The Programme for Government commits to a 7 per cent average yearly reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade, a significant increase in the 3.5 per cent ambition outlined in the 2019 Climate Action Plan. The context of Ireland’s shift in ambition comes at the same time as a similar EU-wide shift. The EU Commission has committed to
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
an EU-wide greenhouse gas emissions reduction target to at least 55 per cent by 2030.
Climate ambitions and required action now span across government. However, on energy-specific aspects of the Programme for Government, one of the key aspects includes a commitment to a new National Energy Efficiency Action Plan and a range of actions to deliver at least 70 per cent renewable electricity by 2030, including a whole-ofgovernment strategy.
Other significant commitments include the production of a Marine Planning and Development Bill, recognised as a significant enabler of offshore wind asset development, as well as a plan to set out a pathway to 5GW capacity in offshore wind by 2030. Additionally, enhancement of interconnection, further pathways to advancing renewable
Source: LSE
technologies; ensuring community energy participation and the implementation of a national energy efficiency action plan, are also key features of the Programme for Government.
While the Programme for Government set the tone for Ireland’s increased greenhouse gas emissions drive and offered a sense of direction for policymakers, stakeholders and potential investors, the finalising of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2020 will offer a concrete foundation for action. More crucial than the headline ambitions will be the specifics of sectoral targets which are yet to be established. Also crucial to progress will be the level of EU support on offer once Ireland’s enhanced ambitions alongside the climate plans of all member states.
Programme for Government
70% renewable electricity by 2030 7% annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions A Climate Action Bill Annual RESS auctions including offshore in 2021 €100 per tonne carbon tax by 2030 A National Energy Efficiency Action Plan and National Retrofitting Plan 50% public sector decarbonisation by 2030 5GW capacity in offshore wind by 2030
• Climate neutral by 2050 • Three successive five-year carbon budgets • A National Long Term Climate
Action Strategy • Local authority climate action plans • Strengthened Climate Change
Advisory Council • Annual revision of Climate
Action Plan
EU 2030 Climate Target Plan
• Pathway to climate neutrality by 2050 • 55% greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 • Legislative proposals on achieving target • Full policy instrument review by
June 2021 • Include increased 2030 target in
European Climate Law
EirGrid: Powering Ireland’s renewable targets
Michael Mahon, EirGrid Chief Infrastructure Officer offers an update on two key EirGrid infrastructure projects that will reinforce the network and underpin growth across the Kildare/Meath region and north Connacht.
Last month EirGrid began public consultation on a range of options for a critical, new electricity project that will reinforce the network across Kildare and Meath. The company wrote to 57,000 homes across the two counties seeking feedback on five technical solutions for the Kildare-Meath Grid Upgrade project.
The project will add a high-capacity electricity connection between Dunstown substation in Kildare and Woodland substation in Meath. The development will significantly improve the transfer and distribution of power across Meath, Kildare and surrounding counties.
The project is essential to enable the further integration of renewable energy, in line with Government policy, including the transport of electricity from offshore windfarms. It will also help meet the growing demand for electricity in the East. This growth is due to increased economic activity and the connection of new large-scale IT infrastructure in the region.
Dunstown, north of Kilcullen in Kildare, and Woodland near Dunboyne in Meath, are the end points for large amounts of power that is transported across the country on high-voltage power lines from Moneypoint in Clare. The power is produced by a large number of electricity generators in the south and south west, where many wind farms and some modern electricity generators are located.
The five options under consideration for the project are connecting and upvoltaging two existing 220 kilovolt (kV) overhead lines; a 400 kV overhead line; a 220 kV underground cable; a single 400 kV underground cable; 400 kV underground cables along two separate routes. Studies to date have indicated that the up-voltaging solution is the emerging best-performing option, with the single 400 kV underground cable as the emerging best-performing alternative.
For the up-voltaging solution, the towers and conductors on the existing circuits would be replaced or modified so they could handle a higher capacity and voltage. This option would also need new towers at some points along the route. Studies show that this option has a very good technical performance. However, it does not perform as well as an additional new circuit, which would give more operational flexibility. Its economic performance is good, and it is the overall best performer in relation to environmental and socio-economic factors, compared with the other options. This option’s environmental impact is mainly related to its construction.
A new 400 kV underground cable linking the two substations is the emerging bestperforming alternative. Earlier studies questioned whether such an option would be technically feasible due to the length of the cable involved. Further investigations have shown it to be feasible. The cable would be installed in the Meath and Kildare road network. A trench up to four metres wide would be required to meet the power carrying capacity of the circuit.
This option has some technical performance advantages that other options do not. However, the amount of cable required for this option is a challenge and a risk. The operation of underground cables also needs more management than overhead lines to make sure they are safe and secure. Its economic performance is good in comparison with the other options.
Feedback from people in Kildare and Meath is critical, although the Covid-19 pandemic has presented challenges in how to engage with people due to social distancing restrictions. EirGrid have had to come up with a whole new way of consulting with people. This includes a mix of traditional and innovative, online methods, including webinars and a dedicated microsite for the project.
The project team is considering feedback on all five options before making a
decision on which one to take into the next stage of this project, when EirGrid will consult about where exactly the new infrastructure will be built. This is expected to take place in 2021.
North Connacht
EirGrid is also currently evaluating options for anew electricity project that runs from Ballina in Mayo to Ballaghaderreen in Roscommon. The North Connacht 110 kV project is a new electricity circuit that will underpin investment in the region and facilitate the growth of renewable energy. One of the key drivers for the project is the large amount of electricity generated by wind farms in North Connacht, with more planned over the coming years.
The level of renewable generation is greater than the capacity of the local electricity network. This means that EirGrid have to look at ways at improving the electricity infrastructure in the region. Over one third of electricity consumed in Ireland last year was produced by renewable generators, mainly wind farms, and that figure is expected to rise to 40 per cent in 2020. Under the Government’s Climate Action Plan, the figure will rise to 70 per cent by 2030. North Connacht, and other similar grid reinforcement projects, will help Ireland achieve this goal.
The project has been welcomed by IDA Ireland. “Proper infrastructure is key to Ireland maintaining its international competitiveness. We must maintain an environment that is conducive to doing business – and adequate commercial energy capacity is central to that,” said Martin Shanahan, IDA Ireland Chief Executive Officer.
He added: “IDA Ireland welcomes EirGrid’s stated aim of transitioning the electricity sector to low-carbon, renewable energy. The North Connacht project is an important part of that strategy, providing the necessary electricity infrastructure required by industry across North Connacht through renewable energy means, ensuring security of supply for customers and businesses across Mayo, Sligo and Roscommon.”
It was originally proposed that a largescale development based on 400 kV technology would be required. However, “Over one third of electricity consumed in Ireland last year was produced by renewable generators, mainly wind farms, and that figure is expected to rise to 40 per cent in 2020. Under the Government’s Climate Action Plan, the figure will rise to 70 per cent by 2030. North Connacht, and other similar grid reinforcement projects, will help Ireland achieve this goal.”
by 2017 the amount of planned renewable generation capacity in the region had dropped and a 400 kV solution was no longer required.
Instead, it was felt that the reduced amount of renewable generation could be met through a smaller development.
The project team carried out a formal consultation in 2018 and respondents raised several issues:
The need for swift project completion;
Route and corridor options and starting points;
Preservation of wildlife;
Damage to the countryside’s natural beauty;
Noise concerns; and
Impact on property values.
This feedback helped EirGrid in choosing a preferred technology for the project, and on the study area where it could be placed. The circuit will be either a 110 kV underground cable or overhead line that links the existing electricity substations at Moy near Ballina and Tonroe near Ballaghaderreen. The EirGrid project team is currently evaluating possible routes for the circuit within a study area that runs from Foxford in the west to Tubercurry in the east; and Ballina in the north to Ballaghaderreen in the south. The team is currently seeking feedback on the seven potential routes identified in the study area, four of which are for overhead lines and three for underground cables.
The project is reaching a critical point where we will soon determine the best possible route. We have worked hard to reach out to people in the area who might be affected by the project. It is vitally important to receive feedback from people who may be affected by the project.
E: david.martin@eirgrid.com
