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Head of Energy in Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy Richard Rodgers on the delivery of an integrated
magazine renewable energy
Economic opportunity through delivery of an integrated decarbonised energy system
Following the publication of the Northern Ireland Energy Strategy, the Head of Energy in the Department for the Economy (DfE), Richard Rodgers, talks to David Whelan about short-term progress, medium-term aims and the ultimate ambition of a decarbonised energy system, which supports the transformation of the northern economy.
“Delivering self-sufficiency in affordable renewable energy as quickly as possible,” Rodgers sets out, emphasising his belief that energy decarbonisation represents the greatest opportunity for society in the region, since the industrial revolution.
The Head of Energy acknowledges a sea change in public awareness in recent years which has shifted mind sets away from viewing energy as simply a cost. In fact, recent global events, not least COP26 and rising energy costs have thrown a spotlight on Northern Ireland’s ever-present overreliance on fossil fuels. However, he acknowledges that there is a significant communication challenge to gain public understanding and buy-in for the potential of renewable energy and zero carbon technology, that would support the transformation of our local economy and help to deliver a healthier and more prosperous society.
“What we have is the greatest opportunity for local society. Our size, at 1.9 million people in around 768,900 households, provides the flexibility to move away from importing the vast majority of energy that we use and wean ourselves off fossil fuels,” he explains.
“The opportunity and the government message is that through energy decarbonisation, we not only create a healthier environment but that we move away from being subject to energy price volatility and sending money outside of the region for fuel and instead capitalise on our natural endowment.”
In December 2021, following two years of extensive engagement, the Executive published its long-term Path to Net Zero Energy, a pathway for energy to 2030 and towards a 2050 vision of net zero carbon and affordable energy by 2050. A short-term annual action plan for 2022, which included 22 actions, was published in January.
Investment in energy decarbonisation will be largely from the private sector and consumers –the former in the infrastructure, which will be fully regulated, and the latter in home appliances and technology. Given the complexity of the energy decarbonisation pathway and also that many of the technologies are developing, the overall cost can only be forecasted. However, the Committee for Climate Change, the UK Government advisor, is clear in its forecast that overall there will be a net benefit to consumers.
The Northern Ireland Executive’s role is to set the policy and the regulatory frameworks, as signalled in the Energy Strategy, to ‘pump prime’ “Currently, we are operating at 75 per cent System Non-Synchronous Penetration (SNSP) which, with credit to SONI, NIE and our local engineers, is world leading. If we can apply that innovation to the whole energy system, in the future, our unique selling point will be the delivery of an integrated, AI-controlled, and decentralised energy system, meaning that not only will we ensure energy is affordable but also offering the opportunity to rebalance the economy.”
It is this whole-system energy approach which is guiding the thinking around renewable support. While the action plan includes plans to consult on a renewable electricity support scheme for delivery in 2023, Rodgers believes thinking needs to move away from prioritising certain technologies, which he believes has led to a “subsidy chase” elsewhere.
“When we talk about support schemes, I do not
think the future is about individual tariffs. Yes, we will need to have some grant support to pump prime markets but what we really want is a fully regulated energy system in Northern Ireland. That system will deliver stable prices, breaking the link to volatile global commodity markets and based instead on the capital we invest on the cost to maintain that capital.
“International investors have visited and told us that we are one of the very few places that has this joined-up vision and while we still have to work through the details, the aspiration is for a central, common support scheme,” he explains.
the pathway with public sector investment in demonstrator projects and also provide overall financial support for the integrated energy system solution.
“The intention of the action plan is to drive shortterm progress towards what is our ultimate goal, a regulated energy system that is, for the first time ever, across all of heat, power and transport,” he explains. “To do this we need to move from the impressive decarbonisation of the power sector, where we already have over 40 per cent of our electricity generated renewably, to a 100 per cent scenario. We also need to work out how to efficiently store energy for when the wind does not blow.”
Decarbonised electricity, coupled with energy storage and an envisioned smart grid, has the potential to revolutionise Northern Ireland’s energy system and Rodgers believes that Northern Ireland has already indicated its potential to be a global leader on energy innovation.
Skills
Rodgers emphasises that the expertise that will be needed to develop and deliver low- and zerocarbon technologies and to then potentially export those solutions, already exists in Northern Ireland, however, he is aware that more needs to be done do develop the skills capacity if the region is to make the most of the opportunity on offer. The 2022 action plan includes an action to carry out an energy skills audit for energy decarbonisation by the end of the year. 4
To this end, he believes the whole-ofgovernment approach being applied to energy decarbonisation is advantageous. “Through the overarching strategy and annual action plans, all of which will be reviewed, we are bringing a private sector formal business rigour to the public sector and we are also ensuring collaboration across government. The skills audit links into the Department for the Economy’s vision for a 10X economy and the Skills Strategy, but we are also linked into the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and its landing of the Green Growth Strategy, the Department for Communities’ work around fuel poverty and the Department for Infrastructure around planning and infrastructure delivery. Again, the economic opportunity and societal advantages of energy decarbonisation are being developed and delivered across government.”
The Head of Energy is aware that while the vision is clear, a range of challenges will need to be overcome in order to deliver it. Asked what he sees as the biggest barriers to the 2050 goals, the Head of Energy says: “There is always room for more urgency in government. I want to see things move faster, however, we also must ensure that they are done properly and I say that cognisant of the fact that we are still dealing with the shadow of the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (RHI). The resource challenge is not just a financial one, we need to continuously develop our people to deliver good policy.”
He believes that the confidence to successfully move at pace is underpinned by checks and balances introduced to ensure that fundamental mistakes, such as that which occurred with RHI, are caught.
Offshore
Interestingly, among the ambitions to diversify Northern Ireland’s renewable energy mix, included in the Energy Strategy is the ambition to develop an action plan to deliver 1GW of offshore by 2030. The feasibility and affordability of developing offshore generation in Northern Ireland has long been questioned, firstly because of a complex leasing system with the Crown Estate, and secondly because of the nature of the geology. Rodgers acknowledges that the geology, whereby the island’s coastline has steep shelves, means that floating technology will be required. Suggesting some initial interest already from developers, he says that a challenge from the private sector is to reduce the normal 10-year development timescale for offshore generation into a shorter time period, to aid the 2030 ambitions. He reiterates that the whole-of-government approach will be an asset in this regard.
Concluding with a summary of short-term progress, the Head of Energy expects to report on the progress of the 2022 action plan early in 2023, while at the same time publishing the action plan for the year ahead. On whether current political instability in Northern Ireland will impact on delivery, Rodgers believes that the need for energy decarbonisation is supported by all political parties and there is collective buy-in to the strategy.
“We want to ensure the visibility of our delivery progress. When you consider the seismic shifts that have already occurred in relation to energy even since the action plan was published in January 2022, there is an understanding that our vision has to be flexible but also that we remain focused on the need for urgent delivery.”
Energy crisis: A springboard to a greener future?
It is very difficult to envisage any positive outcomes from the current energy crisis and consequential cost of living crisis or imagine how the crises can improve or assist with our response to the climate change emergency, writes Senior Partner at Carson McDowell, Neasa Quigley.
However, the unprecedented energy prices changes have been likened to a huge carbon tax, equivalent to around $600 - $950 a tonne. To put that in perspective, last year carbon tax was priced around $40 a tonne or less across those 30 countries across the globe with national carbon pricing in place, which includes the United Kingdom and the EU block.
The purpose of carbon tax is to make polluters/heavy carbon fuel users pay for the costs of greenhouse gas emissions and be incentivised to both reduce their energy use and employ energy efficient measures and systems. According to the International Energy Agency, the average carbon price needs to hit $200-$250 a tonne for the world to achieve net zero emissions.
The chair of the Energy Transitions Commission believes that the unprecedented high cost of energy (akin to a carbon tax) and the fact that it is expected to remain high for a sustained period will lead to the adoption of renewable technologies, such as green hydrogen, much sooner than expected and to more rapid energy efficiency measures.
The European Union acknowledged in the REPowerEU Plan, published in May 2022 in response to the hardship and global energy market disruption caused by Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, that a multi-faceted approach through energy saving, diversification of energy supplies and an accelerated roll out of renewable energy would reduce dependence on Russian gas and assist with climate change.
The European Commissioner for Energy announced that the EU’s next steps for addressing the worsening energy crisis will be unveiled in mid-September and that a decoupling of gas and energy prices, increase in the liquidity for the markets and coordinated demand reduction could be expected.
Thankfully, the UK is not dependant on Russia for the supply of gas, oil or coal but our energy prices are intrinsically linked to the global energy market. On the day of writing, the UK’s Prime Minister unveiled her £150 billion energy plan to shield Britain from soaring energy prices. Unsurprisingly, there are common themes with those of the EU. Truss confirmed the UK Government will take action to drive forward the acceleration of production of domestic energy generation covering not only renewables but also nuclear and North Sea oil and gas exploration (which does not align with the green energy revolution required to tackle climate change).
A commitment has also been made to reform the energy market, review its regulation and to provide a £40 billion liquidity facility to help energy companies deal with a potential cash flow crisis.
So, where does Northern Ireland fit into that landscape? The Energy Strategy launched in 2021 supported by the Action Plan 2022 already reflects many of the key objectives of the EU and UK to address the energy crisis and climate emergency, including delivery of 1GW of off-shore wind from 2030. We are at a critical juncture at a time when there is no Northern Ireland Executive in place, with an urgent need to make rapid progress on planning law reform, grid infrastructure investment and adoption of a renewable support scheme. This energy crisis has created a golden opportunity to reset the energy system globally and locally. Let’s hope that our politicians, regulators and society at large do not squander it.
If you have any queries relating to any of the matters mentioned in this article or for more information on how Carson McDowell can assist your business, please contact Neasa Quigley, Senior Partner and Head of the Energy & Renewables team.
E: neasa.quigley@carsonmcdowell.com W: carson-mcdowell.com
Hydrogen has its place, but not in buildings
The climate emergency is an emotive issue. It can be tempting for us all, citizens, businesses, governments, to wish for a silver bullet. The kind of solution that when described, on the face of it, sounds like it might hold the key to solving the big problem. Hydrogen has been touted as one such solution. Let me start by saying that hydrogen can, and very likely will be, an essential part of our future energy mix. This is being addressed at a national level through the recent government-led public consultation on a hydrogen strategy for Ireland. But (spoiler alert) … it is no silver bullet.
SEAI recently published the National Heat Study which considered in great detail how we source and use heat currently. The high-level insights are quite eye opening. Heat use in Ireland is responsible for 38 per cent (14.1 million tonnes) of energy-related emissions, or nearly one quarter of total national emissions. However, less than 7 per cent of all energy we use for heating our homes, buildings and industrial processes today comes from renewables. Changing this represents a significant challenge.
The study illustrates that hydrogen produced from renewable energy, or green hydrogen, offers large-scale potential for gas-based industry and power generation. When we consider Ireland’s huge untapped potential for offshore wind energy, the potential to produce hydrogen in the future is much greater than Ireland’s total heat demand. So, on the face of it, it sounds great: let us build the offshore wind, install electrolysers to make hydrogen and pump it thought the gas network to generate electricity, provide heat for industrial processes and heat our homes and buildings. Easily said, but let us scratch the surface a little.
Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s (SEAI) Jim Scheer argues that while hydrogen has a vital role in Ireland’s decarbonisation, it is not the right energy source for space heating.
Time is of the essence
Our renewable electricity target of 40 per cent by 2020, set around the year 2000, was surpassed. It was a fantastic and world leading achievement. We need to continue that success if we are going to hit our new target of 80 per cent by 2030. The current best estimates for developing a new offshore wind farm from inception to connection in Ireland are six to 10 years. The national plan is putting in place new legislation and a regulatory authority that will streamline the process and cut these timelines substantially.
However, we still need to build enough windfarms to supply our ever-increasing electricity demand, and then to provide surplus to generate green hydrogen. In addition, we will need to build industrial scale electrolysers, and storage facilities to store hydrogen before it is moved to the places we want to use it. And those places and network will need to be adapted to use hydrogen. All this requires significant infrastructural development which means green hydrogen is unlikely to be available at scale until the mid-2030s.
But our decarbonisation problem is right now. Ireland’s Energy Balance for 2021 shows we are moving in the wrong direction with carbon emissions increasing by 5.4 per cent, rather than reducing by the 4.8 per cent committed to in the first year of carbon budget.
Heading in the wrong direction
Between 2017 and 2021, over 45,000 new consumers were connected to our gas infrastructure amounting to around 4,000 GWh of new gas demand. Equivalent to two full years of impact from the entirety of government energy efficiency policies. These new connections lock new users into a fossil fuel future. Any rationale that these connections will eventually be served by green hydrogen is undermined by the evidence which demonstrates that it will be simply too late. In fact, if we are to stay within legally binding carbon budgets, then these new connections
will have to be undone, at yet more cost.
We need to eliminate fossil fuels as quickly as possible and we need to favour solutions that are available today. Waiting for green hydrogen and delaying consumers moving to alternatives in the expectation that hydrogen is the answer for heating will quite simply blow our carbon budgets.
We must ensure we do not create a comfort level for energy consumers that will slow down any motivation or support to the roll out of critically urgent new infrastructure such as district heating. District heating uses waste and renewable heat sources to provide space heating, and heat pumps for buildings and industrial processes are the perfect companion technology for district heating. These are technologies that are available right now and offer direct replacements to burning fossil fuels like oil and gas.
Hydrogen is going to be great when it comes. However, it is not the right energy source for space heating. No credible, costed plan has been put forward for its use in buildings globally, and Ireland is no exception. Any rhetoric in support of hydrogen heating homes disagrees with 18 independent studies showing that hydrogen will be too expensive and inefficient compared to the alternatives when it comes to space heating.
Entities with skills in developing energy networks, and with strong connections to energy consumers need now to turn their energy towards supporting our rapid move to new infrastructure that is compatible with a world that works for future generations.
The Government’s Climate Action Plan contains measures to build the regulatory infrastructure required to deploy hydrogen. Further effort to accelerate the commercial availability of competitively priced green hydrogen to supply large industrial applications requiring high heat and in power generation is very welcome. Anything pushing its use beyond that is a perilous distraction.
Credit: Open District Heating
Contact: T: +353 1 8082 100 W: www.seai.ie
magazine renewable energy Biogas development crucial for energy independence
Between the Climate Action Plan, reducing demand on foreign states for energy supply, and the European Union’s measures to phase out the use of Russian fossil fuels by 2023, the development of green gases will play a role in decarbonising Ireland’s electricity sector.
With commitments to reducing dependence on the supply of oil and gas from Russia, as well the emissions reductions targets which aim to reach 80 per cent renewable electricity by 2030, Ireland is obligated to find a diversified, carbon neutral set of means of powering its grid, powering its transport, and heating the homes of citizens.
Onshore and offshore wind, supplemented by solar PV will make up most of the renewable generation needed to decarbonise the power system, however it is increasingly recognised that a diversity of technologies, including biogas and hydrogen will be required if Ireland is to meet its 2050 ambition of being carbon neutral.
Biomethane is made by breaking down organic matter by microbial action using anaerobic digestion technology. The renewable fuel has a potentially vital role to play in keeping to the emissions targets set out in the Climate Action Plan. When produced in the way outlined, it has the efficiency qualities of fossil fuel gas and can be used in decarbonising a range of sectors such as heat, transport, and power generation.
CO2 emissions for the well-to-wheel approaches for a 2020 perspective (based on 2014 JRC study)
E-mobility
Other Hydrogen fuel Cell
biofuels mixed with
Bioge nic fossil fuels fuels Wind Power
EU-mix
EU-Mix Electrolysis
NG Reforming
Biodiesel - B7 (rape)
Ethanol - E20 (wheat)
BIO-CNG (100%) - average
CNG (EU mix)
Fossil fuel LPG
Diesel
Petrol
Therefore, if it can be mass produced and stored in an effective manner, biomethane has the potential to play a role to solving Ireland’s energy security crisis, with a level of compatibility with the traditional fuels used for combustion engines, which would help the State to meet its emissions reductions targets for 2030 and beyond.
EU initiatives
The EU’s REPowerEU Strategy has set a target of 35 billion cubic metres (bcm) of biomethane production by 2030. The proposed actions aim at supporting production to a sustainable and maximum potential volume of biogas to further upgrade it to biomethane and to direct biomethane production from waste and residues, avoiding the use of food and feedstocks leading to land use change issues.
Ireland is bound by the European Union’s solidarity measures and will thus be obligated to proportionately implement its share of the ongoing initiatives by the European Union to end reliance on Russian fossil fuels.
These actions could also create the preconditions for sustainable upgrading and safe injection of biomethane into the gas grid. By 2024, European Union member states will have to separately collect organic waste, which will be an opportunity to upscale the production of sustainable biomethane and create income opportunities for farmers and foresters.
The European Commission has proposed creating a biogas and biomethane industrial partnership as a means of achieving the targeted production as part of REPowerEU. It will promote participatory multistakeholder engagement, including EU countries, industry representatives, and NGOs, among others. The Commission has stated that they will work closely with European Union member states to support them in their development of national strategies on biogas and biomethane production, and promote the cooperation with neighbouring and accession countries, including Ukraine, on biogas and biomethane.
The Commission have further stated that they will consider broadening the scope of the Renewable Energy Directive to ensure that member states are legally obliged to meet biomethane production targets.
Credit: European Biogas Association
Ireland’s biomethane commitments
The Government has a number of programmes which exist essentially as a supporting framework to the wider EU green strategies. The Climate Action Plan 2021, set a target of 1.6 TWh (roughly 3 per cent) of Ireland’s current gas-powered energy to be replaced with biomethane powered alternatives by 2030. However, agreement on sectoral emissions ceilings in July 2022 saw a the target raised to 5.7 TWh energy from biomethane and anaerobic digestion.
It is believed that the acceleration of the use of biomethane has the potential to create in the region of over 6,500 jobs by the end of 2030, most of which will be situated in rural areas throughout the State.
Biomethane, alongside green hydrogen, could potentially replace natural gas to reduce emissions in heating, industry, transport, and power generation, while also supporting the decarbonisation of the agri-food sector.
The Climate Action Plan sets the target of Ireland reaching carbon neutrality and net zero carbon emissions by 2050. One of the most crucial aspects of realising this ambition will be the transformation away from fossil fuel powered vehicles and a transport network which is less reliant on private cars.
Replacing fossil-based transport
According to the European Biogas Association (EBA), the price of biomethane can be 30 per cent lower than the current natural gas pricing, without considering CO2 prices. This
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renewable gas will likely remain cheaper than natural gas in the short and also in the long term. Whilst other renewable gases such as green hydrogen need time to scale up and are still two to four times more expensive, the advantage of biomethane is that it is available now and scalable within the coming eight years.
Transport accounted for 34 per cent of energy demand in 2020, although this figure is skewed by the one-off nature in the reduction in transport which took place that year due to the Covid-19 lockdowns. Prior to this aberration, CO2 emissions from the transport sector increased by 25 per cent between 2012 and 2019.
Biomethane has been promoted as a feasible alternative to power vehicles. In July 2020, the European Biogas Association (EBA) published a report entitled Acknowledging the Full Potential of Biomethane as Transport Fuel. The report states that biomethane is a readily available solution which is compatible with the combustion engine which powers non-electric vehicles:
“Together with green e-mobility, biomethane-fuelled vehicles have the best decarbonisation potential. As the combustion phase of biomethane emits biogenic carbon dioxide, which is quickly reabsorbed, it does not contribute to the increase of GHGs in the environment. When looking at the full production and use cycle (WtW), cars fuelled with biomethane are extremely well positioned to contribute strongly to the decarbonisation of transport.”
The report continues: “The amount of GHG reductions from biomethane depends on the type of feedstock used and on how the production process is being controlled. In the least favourable scenario, biomethane would be produced from unsustainable feedstocks, diesel and grey electricity would be used in the production process and the remaining digestate would be incinerated.
“However, biomethane is currently obtained primarily from sustainable feedstocks, produced in a sustainable way and using digestate to revitalise the soil. In turn, this minimises the use of mineral fertilisers (also called chemical fertilisers), and therefore further avoids CO2 emissions. This type of biomethane production can lead to carbon negative emissions.”
When announcing the Renewable Fuels for Transport Policy Statement, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan TD reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to a 51 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions, and that the policy was key to the implementation of increasing the mixture of biofuels in conventional petrol and diesel.
Minister Ryan further stated that biomethane will have a role to play in the implementation of the Climate Action Plan: “Commitments include incentives to develop the supply of renewable fuels including advanced biofuels and alternative transport fuels such as green hydrogen and biomethane, while ensuring the maintenance of the highest standards of sustainability of biofuel supply from source.”
If Ireland is to reach its net zero commitments, ensure that transport fuel remains affordable, and comply with the EU energy measures, then a transition towards a transport model which enhances the use of biomethane in vehicles may be the most practical solution to achieving this, and could furthermore reduce the scale to which a reduction in private transport is necessary.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have recognised that bioenergy is the largest current contributor to renewable energy across the world. The IPCC strongly highlights the role that bioenergy can play in carbon removal as well as in the development of bioenergy-based fuel alternatives for fossil fuels.
While bioenergy deployment in Ireland is significantly lagging behind Europe, the Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBEA) strongly articulates the potential which exists. A blind spot exists in Irish policy and support towards bioenergy compared to other renewable technologies. There are multi-sectoral benefits associated with the sector which are not valued including rural development, indigenous generated energy, the bioeconomy, enhancing biodiversity and agricultural diversification.
The Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH) supports renewable heat used in industry while ensuring that biomass is sourced through sustainable forest management as governed by strict criteria in the RED II Directive.
Fossil fuels can be displaced with indigenous resources such as biogas, bioliquids, energy crops, woodchip and firewood. With energy costs at an alltime high, bioenergy offers households and business an immediate indigenous solution to reduce cost, emissions and supply chain risk.
The scale of the challenge in meeting emission reduction targets is enormous. None of the solutions proposed today will get us to where we need to be by 2050. There is a need for policy makers to recognising that all renewable technologies have a part to play. Specifically, a 40 per cent renewable heat target by 2030 should be enshrined in government policy as per the Renewable Energy Ireland (REI) 40by30 report. Solid biomass and biogas/biomethane can do the heavy lifting in decarbonising heat across all sector but particularly in the high temperature heat range. This can complement the ambitious targets for low temperature heat decarbonisation using heat pumps.
The Biofuels Obligation Scheme delivered 520,000 tonnes of CO2 savings in 2020. Biofuel blending levels in petrol and diesel fuels need to be significantly increased. Biogas can aid agricultural emission reduction, through capturing the gas produced by slurries and farm residues using Anaerobic Digestion technology and using the resulting digestate to improve soil fertility. A government strategy and dedicated incentives and supports to mobilise a biogas/biomethane are urgently required.
With investment, support and the right policy framework the potential of bioenergy to assist in reducing cost, emissions and supply risk can be realised.
Seán Finan: IrBEA CEO E: seanfinan@irbea.org W: www.irbea.org
Irish Bioenergy Association
Who Are We?
IrBEA was founded in 1999 and is the representative body for the bioenergy industry on the island of Ireland. IrBEA works on behalf of its members across the bioenergy sectors of biomass, biogas, biofuels, biochar, woodfuels and energy crops. IrBEA is recognised by Government and key stakeholders as the voice of the bioenergy industry.
The organisation is one of the founding members of Renewable Energy Ireland and is affiliated to Bioenergy Europe and the European Biogas Association (EBA). The organisation’s activities are managed by the CEO assisted by a small executive staff team. IrBEA is governed by a Board of Directors which includes an elected President and Vice President. Policy direction is provided by a management committee and specific subcommittees.
IrBEA manages and administers the Wood Fuel Quality Assurance Scheme (WFQA) and is currently involved in a number of bioenergy Research and Development projects on biogas and biochar. IrBEA administers a register of biomass designers and biomass installers. Full details on www.irbea.org
Our membership
The diverse membership includes farmers and foresters, fuel suppliers, energy development companies, equipment manufacturers and suppliers, engineers, financiers and tax advisers, legal firms, consultants, planners, research organisations, local authorities, education, and advisory bodies – anyone with an interest in the bioenergy industry.
Our mission and objectives:
INFLUENCE
• Influence policy makers to promote the development of bioenergy
PROMOTE
• Promote and represent the interests of members
IMPROVE
• Improve public awareness of bioenergy as a realistic option for renewable energy supply
NETWORK
• Networking and information sharing among those interested in bioenergy development
LIAISE
• Liaise with similar interest groups and stakeholders
PROJECTS
• Promote the implementation of bioenergy projects
Towards a hydrogen strategy for Ireland
John Finnegan, Principal Officer at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, tells the Renewable Energy Magazine that the Department is “very much in listening mode” as it begins the process of formulating Ireland’s long-awaited hydrogen strategy.
“We are in the happy situation where we all know that hydrogen is very important, and we all know that we have to make the right decisions now so that hydrogen will be in the place we want it to be in the future,” Finnegan says, speaking just before the Government launched its public consultation on the development of a hydrogen strategy. The eight-week consultation has since opened and closed.
Detailing Ireland’s journey towards the forthcoming hydrogen strategy, Finnegan recounts accompanying Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan TD to Seanad Éireann, where he talked “in a very long-term, strategic sense about hydrogen and a vision for Ireland as a power exporter for the new world, to move from being an importer to an exporter, to be a centre of energy on a global scale”. International consultation has also taken place, and far-flung exemplars abound, as Finnegan notes: “The German Government has a very developed hydrogen strategy, already uses a lot of hydrogen, and is very committed to the use of green hydrogen, so they are looking for sources of it.
“The Hydrogen Forum asked Ireland to attend, and there were people from all over the world talking big picture stuff about large-scale manufacturing of green hydrogen and how you trade it globally. There is a lot of interest. Hydrogen seems to be everybody’s favourite answer to any question.”
The potential of hydrogen in Ireland’s energy mix has long been discussed, from the possibility of the State becoming a net exporter of energy through its use, to the long-term storage uses it could provide. The progress of fellow EU member states such as Germany’s deployment has been a source of frustration in the domestic market. However, as Finnegan says, it is now the responsibility of government and officials to study the potential and ascertain its best uses in Ireland.
“Our challenge is to decide what the realistic benefits that will apply to us are and to make the decisions now that will get us to those benefits in the long term,” he says. “If we are moving to 80 per cent or more renewables, the first objection sceptics will articulate is what will be done when the wind is not blowing, and the sun is not shining. Storing electricity and using that store to turn it back into electricity without using carbon is of great interest to us; hydrogen possibly has a role in that highly renewable system.
processes and hydrogen is a potentially carbon-free source for that. Hydrogen is also an energy carrier; it can be put in pipes or in ships. It can be transformed into other chemicals. When creating renewable energy in a remote location, such as offshore, or making more energy than you can use, hydrogen is something to consider. There are sectors that are hard to electrify that need to be coupled in some way: heating buildings; transport. Hydrogen could be a way of turning green electricity into something that acts like hydrocarbon.”
Of course, when discussing the security of Ireland’s energy supply, the recent fears around capacity and the price inflation – which have been exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – are unavoidable. Finnegan is cognisant of the role hydrogen can play in the easing of these fears: “Domestically produced hydrogen increases our energy security rather than relying on an increasingly unfriendly outside world. Ireland has the potential to become an energy exporter. The challenge with all of these ideas is to determine which ones are realistic and start making the decisions now.”
There is both a domestic and European legislative framework enabling and promoting the development of hydrogen power. Likewise, the Programme for Government pledged to a 51 per cent cut in emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050, specifically referencing green hydrogen’s potential in difficult-todecarbonise sectors such as transport and heat. The Climate Action Plan aimed for between 1 and 3 TWh of zero emissions gas, which “could be renewable biomethane or hydrogen” and envisages a role for hydrogen in sector coupling.
Agreed sectoral emissions ceilings outlined an additional 2,000MW of green hydrogen.
The EU Hydrogen Strategy explicitly called for hydrogen to play a role in Europe’s energy mix; the 2021 Gas Market Package spoke of hopes for a future cross-border internal hydrogen market and settling the tax and regulation systems that would surround such a market; and REPowerEU, the EU’s response to the energy crisis which followed the invasion of Ukraine, calls for renewable efforts to be doubled and quickened, with hydrogen explicitly mentioned. The annex of actions within the Climate Action Plan, with regard to hydrogen includes testing technical feasibility of injecting green hydrogen blends into the gas grid; investigating the potential for integration between the electricity and gas networks; progressing research on pilots in the transport sector; and investigating the incentivisation of electrolysers to produce hydrogen. Meanwhile, Climate Action Plan 2022 is expected to be published in the autumn, and will be the first under the new carbon budget and sectoral emissions targets and will thus contain action designed to achieve these targets. Government’s response to the new world and precarious energy situation we live in,” Finnegan says. “It says that we need to do things quicker and again calls out a specific role for hydrogen. We are not quite sure yet what the role is, but it is significant. We now need to be in a listening mode as policymakers, doing our research and finding out what should be done. The first stage of this was the public consultation.”
On an optimistic note, he concludes: “We have achieved consensus that hydrogen is very important, and we all know that we have to make the right decisions now so that hydrogen will be in the place we want it to be in the future.”
Time to step up
Wind Turbine Technicians Shirley Costelloe and Eduardo Rivero with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD and Skillnet Ireland CEO Paul Healy launching a drive to recruit more people to work in Ireland’s renewable energy industry.
We are living in an unprecedented energy crisis created by our dependence on imported fossil fuels and the slow roll out of renewable energy, writes Wind Energy Ireland CEO Noel Cunniffe.
Ireland faces into a winter which will be marked by some of the highest energy prices seen since the oil crisis of the 1970s.
The priority in the coming months must be to ensure vulnerable families and struggling businesses survive. Initiatives from the European Commission designed to take the pressure off consumers should be welcomed though the details will need careful consideration.
But the hard lesson of 2022 is that our country will always be vulnerable while we depend so much on imported fossilfuels for our energy supply.
It is well past time for the rhetoric of the Government’s commitment to the development of renewable energy to be matched by action. It would be wrong to claim there has been no progress. The first new wind farms under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme are connecting this year. A planning system for offshore wind is starting to take place and solar power is connecting to the grid for the first time.
But renewable energy still faces a disjointed system where offshore projects can take literally years to get something as relatively straight-forward as a foreshore survey licence. Onshore wind farms are spending so long with An Bord Pleanála that they are missing opportunities to apply for grid connections.
And it is Irish households that pay the price in their electricity bills, the price of a decade of missed opportunities to develop our electricity grid or to reform our planning system.
Every renewable energy project we connect makes a difference to our carbon emissions and to the price paid by electricity consumers. Onshore wind farms supplied 32 per cent of Ireland’s electricity up to the end of August.
Every time a wind turbine generates power it is pushing expensive imported fossil fuels off the system and lowering wholesale electricity prices, sometimes even halving the price on the windiest days.
Cheaper power
The faster we can build and connect renewable energy onto the electricity system the more secure we make
Ireland’s energy supply, the more money we can put back in the pockets of consumers and the lower we can make our carbon emissions.
But we are not moving fast enough.
Hitting our 2030 targets is, I believe, still possible but if it is to be done it must become a national mission, driven from the very highest levels of government and reaching into every community right across the country.
Ireland’s energy crisis can only be faced if the full resources of the State are brought to bear with determination and with a common purpose.
We must recognise the threat we face from climate change is far greater than the one we faced from Covid. And it is now joined by a second, more immediate threat, as the ESRI estimates 43 per cent of Irish families are now living in energy poverty.
Russia followed their brutal invasion of Ukraine with the weaponisation of gas supply.
Europe is under threat because our energy supply is under threat. This means real hardship for families across the continent who struggle to pay bills that, ultimately, end up funding Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Defending Europe
Ireland can play a critical role in defending Europe. Not with guns or tanks, but with wind turbines and solar panels. Green hydrogen from Cork and electricity generated in Donegal can help replace natural gas in Europe’s power supply.
To achieve this we have, very broadly, two tasks before us.
First, we need to build as many wind farms, onshore and offshore, as many solar farms and as many energy storage projects as we can and as quickly as possible. This is about speed. Ireland’s renewable energy industry knows what to do. We have the expertise and the skills. We have the investment.
But we cannot build these projects if we cannot get them through the planning system, if we cannot connect them to the electricity grid and or must wait for an opportunity to compete in an auction every 12-18 months to win a contract to be built. takes far too long and, in many cases, bewilders international investors with the frequent delays, the lack of focus and the apparent single-minded determination on the part of some State agencies to find every reason why something cannot be done rather than to find one reason it can.
The entire system of how we develop renewable energy in Ireland, from start to finish, needs to be completely redesigned. And that brings us to the second task.
Statkraft’s Taghart wind farm in County Cavan became the first new wind farm completed under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme.
Grid not fit for purpose
Our electricity grid is not fit for purpose. It was designed for a fossil fuel economy in the late 20th century. The time for tinkering at the edges and pretending we can build a modern electricity grid without modern electricity infrastructure is over.
We need to deliver projects like the North-South Interconnector and we must invest to ensure that the system can, when the wind and solar is available, operate with 100 per cent renewables.
Every single part of EirGrid’s Shaping Our Electricity Future strategy must be delivered and then the real work must start because this strategy leaves us far short of our 2030 targets, let alone our net zero ambition.
We need more power lines and underground cables to get power from the wind farms and solar farms which will generate it to the homes, farms and businesses that will need it.
We need all of this to be part of building an energy-independent Ireland at the heart of an energy-secure Europe.
It is time for all of us to step up.
T: +353 4589 9341 E: office@windenergyireland.com W: www.windenergyireland.com
Credit: Science in HD
Agriculture key to solar targets
Raised ambitions as a result of carbon budgets aim for the delivery of 5.5GW of solar power in Ireland by 2030, but there are fears that the technology is being underutilised and that its potential within the agriculture sector especially is not being grasped.
0.2 per cent of all agricultural land is all that is required for the State to reach its solar energy generation targets, the Irish Solar Energy Association (ISEA) Chief Executive Conall Bolger told the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine in May 2022.
Frustrations abound in both the solar and agricultural sectors with regard to a lack of legislative foundation for cooperation between the two; as it currently stands, a farmer installing solar panels on his land will not have the capacity it generates added to the national inventory.
As of the 2020 Renewable Energy in Ireland report published by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), solar photovoltaic (PV) panels accounted for 24.2MW of installed capacity in Ireland – 17.7MW in the residential sector and 6.5MW in the commercial industrial sector – and generated 0.1 per cent of renewable electricity, 16.7 GWh, in 2018 as a result. The report notes despite these small figures that solar PV is “already growing rapidly”, with 245MW installed capacity contracted in 2018 and 706MW in 2019.
In December 2021, the Government unveiled its plan to aid homes, farms, businesses, and communities in benefitting from and contributing to the addition of solar to the national grid; the Microgeneration Support Scheme. The scheme aims to target supports for 380MW of installed microgeneration capacity as a means of contributing to the then 2.5GW targets, now 5.5GW, which could equate to over one million panels on 70,000 buildings, depending on panel size. Homeowners will be eligible for both the SEAI grant for the installation of equipment and the clean export guarantee (CEG) tariff for any exported electricity; non-domestic applicants such as farms and business will all be eligible for the CEG tariff, while those generating up to 5.9kW of electricity will receive the grant and projects between 6kW and 50kW will receive a clean export
While progress has been made with regard to the role agriculture can play in solar cultivation through such schemes, Bolger told the Oireachtas committee that this only scratches the surface. Speaking to the committee the week after Millvale Solar Farm in Wicklow became the first utility-scale solar farm developed under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) to be connected to the national grid, he stated that Ireland could deliver 6GW of solar power, meeting one-fifth of the State’s electricity needs, by 2030 “given the right policy landscape”.
In its submission to the same Oireachtas committee, Teagasc stated that less than 2 per cent of dairy farms within the State have a solar panel system installed. Bolger stated that less than 1 per cent of total agricultural land would be needed to meet current targets and that the opportunity would be financially advantageous for farmers.
“Making land available for solar developments presents opportunities for farmers to diversify their revenues with minimal impact on the sector,” he told the committee. “Our estimate of the necessary solar contribution to meet Ireland’s renewable target entails using the equivalent of about one-fifth of 1 per cent of Ireland’s total agricultural land.”
However, barriers to take up in the agriculture sector still need to be dealt with, according to those in both the solar and agriculture sectors. The second phase of the Government’s Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Schemes, known as TAMS II, has been criticised as being unduly restrictive, thus limiting take up. Tax law also provides a barrier for take-up within agriculture; the relief for farmers inheriting land without paying inheritance tax under the Capital Acquisitions Tax regime does not apply to farms that have more than half of their total area taken up by solar panels. This is despite the fact that international experience has shown that the presence of solar panels does not necessarily prevent the use of the land for other agricultural purposes, with exemplars abroad leading to estimates that 55-80 per cent of the land would be available for use.
Planning issues around rooftop solar PV has also been cited as an issue. For light industrial or commercial premises, 50 square metres of solar panels are permitted without planning permission. Industrial buildings do not require planning permission for solar panels. Under proposed revisions to planning permissions published by the Government in June 2022, houses, regardless of location, would be able to install solar panels on their roofs without planning permission and would be able to build wall-mounted and free-standing solar panels without permission to an increased limit of 60 square metres.
High prices have also proved to be a concern for industry. RESS1 delivered a total of 63 solar projects with a capacity of 796MW, with a strike price of €74.08/MWh that was described by the ISEA as “significantly higher than anywhere else in Europe”. Despite the high prices, development continues, with EDF Renewables having broken ground on three new solar farms that will generate 17MW, NTR acquiring a co-located and storage project worth 54MW, and Highfield Solar securing financing for two projects projected to generate 282MW.
With development at both domestic and industrial levels gathering pace, fears that Ireland might not capitalise on the potential its agriculture sector offers to solar generation might well be assuaged. Fine Gael’s new agriculture forum has set the issue as its number one priority, signalling the support of at least one government party for farmers seeking to involve themselves in microgeneration. Tánaiste Leo Varadkar TD has said that he would like to see solar panels on all farm roofs. A speedy return on investment is key in that regard, he said: “Crucial to that is making sure that we guarantee farmers a decent tariff so that if farmers invest, they know they will get a return not in 20 years but in a reasonable timeframe.”
Conall Bolger, Chief Executive, Irish Solar Enegry Association
Innovation at the heart of Calor’s low carbon strategy
As consumers, businesses and policymakers escalate the drive to decarbonise Ireland’s economy and society, Calor is poised to help deliver a cleaner economy for rural Ireland.
Calor introduced BioLPG, a renewable form of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in 2018, as the first step in their ambition to supply 100 per cent renewable fuels by 2037, their centenary year. Calor are working locally in Ireland and at a global level with their parent company SHV Energy to develop the next generation of renewable fuels for rural homes and businesses.
Their current renewable product, BioLPG, is produced from a mix of sustainably-sourced renewable and waste materials. BioLPG burns in the same way as conventional LPG, and can be blended and used in existing LPG-powered appliances and applications. BioLPG is fully traceable and is certified renewable.
Since its initial launch on the market for domestic and industrial customers, Calor has developed a number of new product extensions, including BioLPG in outdoor cylinders and BioLPG for forklift trucks (FLT). All of these innovations are helping to reduce emissions in the market.
One of the keys to the success of BioLPG is the ease of switching. Calor BioLPG is identical in appearance, performance and application to conventional LPG. BioLPG is transported and stored in the same tanks and used in the same boilers and appliances as LPG. The transition from LPG to BioLPG is totally seamless.
Calor CEO, Duncan Osborne, explains the importance of this easy transition: “The kind of wholesale change that we need in society is difficult to achieve. Ideally, you want simple steps that people can feel comfortable with. Switching to BioLPG is easy, that is why it is working so well. “For LPG customers it is the same equipment and the same way of doing things. For people switching from oil or other fuels, gas is a well-known fuel that most people are comfortable using. That makes it easier for them to switch.”
Another innovation, this time aimed at the very large energy user is Calor LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas).
LNG is natural gas which has been liquefied. This process makes it possible to transport it to areas which are not on the natural gas network.
While natural gas is available in many areas, there are large parts of Ireland with no natural gas connectivity. Large businesses in these areas have to date been unable to access natural gas and its benefits of lower cost, lower emissions, and greater flexibility. Calor LNG delivers a carbon emission saving of 25 per cent when compared to heavy fuel oil. LNG also delivers significantly lower particulate emissions (-99 per cent), NOx (-70 per cent) and SOx (80 per cent) – helping to improve air quality.
Installation of LNG will open the door to future installation of BioLNG, a renewable form of LNG which comes from anaerobic digestion. This will be an additional step in Calor’s renewable journey as they progress their ambition to be 100 per cent renewable by 2037.
BioLPG and LNG now join Calor’s traditional LPG product, used by over 50,000 customers in Ireland, in offering domestic and industrial customers the chance to lower emissions. All three offer significant carbon reductions when compared to oil and solid fuels. With this range, making a cleaner choice has become a lot easier.
As consumers, businesses and policy makers accelerate the drive to decarbonise Ireland’s economy and society, Calor and many of their customers have been early adopters in this regard.
With the development of new products planned over the next decade, Calor is poised to help deliver a cleaner economy for rural Ireland.
The economic impact of climate change is now clear for all to see
Now is the time to realise that the economic and health impacts of climate change are too destructive to be ignored, writes Surety Bonds Managing Director, Colm McGrath.
While inflation in Ireland and Europe is running at record levels it is nearing its peak and decelerating in the US due to aggressive interest rate hikes and a sharp drop in petrol prices. There seems to be a consensus among central bankers that we will reach peak inflation the fourth quarter of 2022, prices of many key commodities oil, wheat and copper have fallen in recent months due to weaker global demand.
If this is the case, then lower prices should start to have a positive impact on the ordinary consumer by early to mid2023. My rationale here is that the majority of current hyperinflation is due to geopolitical issues, mainly the war in Ukraine and the impact of supply that has had on Russian gas supply and the sanctions linked to the war. cent in the past have not gone away: weak wage growth and ageing populations; alongside globalisation and vast improvements in technology. These factors will come back into play as we progress out of this disastrous scenario.
The US may avoid recession due to the lower cost of fuel and increase in job creation, employment in the US is at its highest in decades. Ireland is also looking like it may avoid recession. We will have lower growth across all sectors but Ireland’s lack of reliance on Russian gas and oil should mean we will get through the winter, albeit with a reliance on some form of government supports, as the cost of electricity supply temporarily grows out of control.
In Europe, however, we are looking at a different scenario. While inflation has had a drastic effect on the European economy there are multiple factors which will have a negative impact and may see a recession kicking in over the winter months. The war in Ukraine is an obvious problem, more than likely President Putin will cut off or reduce the supply of gas to Europe in retaliation for harsh sanctions against Russia. The lack of gas could see many manufacturing plants cut output or shutdown during this period, rationing of energy across all sectors and power outages could become the norm during this period.
Even more disturbing is the impact climate change is having on already distraught economies across Europe. The Rhine, a major trade artery for German, Dutch and Swiss economies has become virtually impassable, this has had a huge impact as vessels carrying diesel and coal have either had to reduce their loads or are unable to deliver to ports most in need. This is also hampering the preparation for winter; the summer months are usually used to build reserves.
Half of Europe’s territory is suffering from droughts, the Danube which flows through much of central and southeastern Europe to the Black Sea is like the Rhine only flowing at a trickle. Italy’s rice fields are nearly dry as the Po Valley is too low to provide the quantity of water provided, so much so they started taking water from Lake Garda until that started running low. France is finding it difficult to cool its nuclear power stations as the Rhone and Garonne are too warm.
The argument that transports up and down the Rhine and Danube can be replaced with other forms is a moot point as rail networks are already congested, road usage is not even open for discussion as there are already shortages of truck drivers and replacing one barge would take legions of trucks which would clog up already over utilised road networks.
This problem is only going to get worse as Alpine glaciers shrink and a reduction in rainfall lead to regular droughts, driving up costs of fuel, grain, wine, and other commodities in the long term. As much as I hate saying it, we are going to have to start getting used to higher prices at the till. We can no longer stick our heads in the sand when it comes to climate change, now that it is impacting us all, not just third world countries, we must realise the economic and health impacts are too destructive to be ignored.
While there are signs of positivity on the horizon, that is inflation does look to be easing, recession in the US is unlikely and a recession in Europe is at fifty-fifty. Even if it does occur it should be short. However, the likelihood that we will have to face the current climate issues year after year is more likely, along with these issues is the cost no matter how hard we try to adapt that cost is going to have to be borne by the consumer. The economic cost of climate change is accelerating with a dramatic price we are all going to have to pay.
What is disappointing about that fact is we should not have to, nor do we need to pay it. Renewables are now significantly undercutting fossil fuels as the world’s cheapest source of energy. Of the wind, solar and other renewables that came on stream in 2020, nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) were cheaper than the cheapest new fossil fuel, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)1 .
There is a massive incentive right now to cut our ties with fossil fuels, 20, yes just 20, fossil fuel companies contribute to 35 per cent of all energy related carbon dioxide and methane pollution worldwide2. We owe the fossil fuel industry nothing. OPEC+ on the 5 September 2022 agreed to cut oil production just as the world needs a short-term fix of increased supply, all to increase the price of oil.
Talk about holding the world to ransom, extortion would be an apt term for this cartel of companies. The power lies with governments to change the status quo by investing in renewables, in Ireland we could even be a net exporter. The delay by successive governments in embracing renewables is just hard to fathom.
Colm McGrath T: 0719 623 228 E: colm@suretybonds.ie W: www.suretybonds.ie
Ireland can learn from the UK on transitioning to green energy, particularly with developing supply chains, according to Luke Clark, Director of Strategic Communications, RenewableUK.
Clark states that the climate ambitions in the UK will lead to a substantial increase in the use of renewable energy, which will be an intense increase over the next five to 10 years.
“The growth of offshore wind in the UK is going to be incredibly rapid in the next five years and even more longterm into 2030. We have a target now of 50GW by 2030; this is an increase on the initial 30GW target which was set three years ago. As we have seen more success and scaling up in the offshore wind sector, the Government have increasingly set us stretching targets.
“What we have also seen alongside that trend towards greater ambition is a shift in the market geographically in the UK. The pipeline of new projects has increasingly shifted north towards Scotland. We had a ScotWind leasing round last year which added an extra 25GW and the UK is still just behind China as having the second largest pipeline of offshore projects in the world.”
A green economy
On job growth, Clark states that employment in the renewable energy industry has the potential to treble in size, which will be a necessary development if the UK is to meet its ambitious 2030 targets.
“We are looking at jobs trebling between now and 2030; increasing from 31,000 to around 100,000 by then. A people strategy is an important part of where we are going as an industry to deliver projects and within the supply chain,” he states.
“What we have been really successful at in the UK is a developer-led model of providing skills and training. Individual projects have been able to identify in local areas that support individual projects. That has been encouraged through our supply chain plan process.”
Measuring success
The scope through which success in the green transition is measured is in need of systematic reform, with a more comprehensive measurement system required in order to measure progress.
“There is increasing understanding that a blunt UK content number is not a very effective proxy, and it is also a proxy which is based on an increasing overall number – we are at 60GW now.
“Even if a project delivers less than 60GW that will still deliver greater benefit to the economy than could have been previously envisaged.”
Ports, policy, and prices
Clark believes that there are “three Ps” which provide the gateway to success in the renewable energy industry. These are: ports; policy; and prices.
“Across Europe there is a race to develop ports for offshore wind. Everyone knows the size of the prize in the European market and we also know that if you have a strong port facility, it can be flexed up and can be used to .provide support for the European market.”
He further states that the UK’s eight freeports have been utilised to great effect in order to overcome the challenges to British trade which have been caused by Brexit, the supply chain crisis, and Covid-19.
Prioritisation is identified as another ‘P’ which is crucial to ensuring success. Clark promotes the potential for interindustrial cooperation in the UK, and speaks of how RenewableUK have utilised Britain’s capability in blade manufacturing, which was encouraged through a government initiative.
“This was a £160 million pot of money that we designed to support and enable investment in those areas that have been identified as areas of priority for the UK. That process has supported seven new facilities, both new and upgrades of existing facilities. That money has a 7:1 ratio and unlocked over £1 billion in investment and created at least 3,000 new jobs. We have got foundations, towers, all of those priorities that have been identified.”
On pricing, Clark outlines the substantive challenges which have arisen from the war in Ukraine, Covid19 and the subsequent supply chain crisis which has driven material prices up globally. He further states that competition is key with the everincreasing amount of market competition from countries throughout the world.
“In a competitive world, if we have scarcity, suppliers and capital is going to be allocated to markets that make the best return. We are at a point with CFDs where we know that offshore wind is the cheapest option available. It is two or three times cheaper than carbon-intensive alternatives or indeed nuclear. We need to ensure that we are providing a market and a price which is attractive for people to be able to make returns and therefore invest in our supply chains.”
Clark concludes by stating that the UK has the potential to be the “Saudi Arabia of wind energy”, and further promotes the potential of the development of green hydrogen. His final point is that that RenewableUK hopes to expand its offshore wind projects into the Celtic Sea, which will increase the scope for cooperation between Ireland and the UK.
Taoiseach visits DP Energy.
As a dedicated developer of renewable energy projects in Ireland and across the globe, DP Energy is committed to developing and integrating energy storage solutions within its projects to deliver a world fully powered by renewable energy.
Can you imagine a world that is fully powered by renewable energy? That is the overall goal of DP Energy, the Corkbased company that develops, constructs and has operated a range of renewable energy assets worldwide using only the most sustainable and environmentally responsible methods and technologies.
Established over 30 years ago and headquartered in Buttevant in County Cork, DP Energy delivered its first wind farm project in Tyrone in 1993 and, since then, has delivered seven wind energy projects across the island of Ireland and a further four in Scotland and the UK. The company has also developed over 1GW of renewable energy projects across Australia, Canada, Ireland and the UK, with three quarters of these projects already built and operational.
Currently, DP Energy has an immediate pipeline of 7GW of wind and solar energy projects across Ireland, Australia, the UK and Canada, with 750MW due to enter construction in 2023. These projects variously incorporate both on and offshore wind, solar and ocean energy technologies.
In the offshore wind space in particular, DP Energy is actively pursuing a number of projects across Europe and Canada and has partnered with EDF Renewables for 1GW of offshore wind in the UK Celtic Sea and with Iberdrola, one of the world’s largest renewable energy producers, to deliver 3GW of offshore wind in Ireland.
Delivery of the three offshore wind schemes in Ireland, programmed to be operational by 2030, will significantly contribute to Ireland’s Climate Action Plan target of 80 per cent renewable electricity by 2030, 7GW of offshore wind by 2030 and ultimately to the country’s net zero carbon target by
2050. The three Irish projects include a fixed-bottom project off the Wexford coast and two floating projects off the Cork and Clare coasts. It is a very exciting time in Ireland as offshore floating wind technology (FLOW) is now technically and commercially viable. This technology will allow DP Energy to deploy FLOW on the south coast, but especially the west coast, which has one of the best wind resources in the world.
Australia is another significant market for DP Energy when it comes to offshore wind. The company is already a significant player in the renewable energy space in Australia, with lead projects there including the 320MW Port Augusta Renewable Energy Park in South Australia, and the 430MW Callide Wind Farm in Queensland. Now, DP Energy is currently pursuing offshore wind development in Australia following greater government focus on embracing offshore wind potential to increase the contribution of renewable energy and meet emissions reduction targets. The company has identified key offshore sites on the south and east coasts and is currently undertaking early-stage feasibility studies for these project sites.
The Federal Government recently announced six regions across Australia with the potential for offshore wind projects, with Gippsland in Victoria the most advanced. The Victorian government is aiming to generate approximately 20 per cent (2GW) of its energy needs from offshore wind by 2032, 4GW of offshore wind capacity by 2035 and 9GW by 2040. Australia will be DP Energy’s first venture into offshore wind in the southern hemisphere.
In every project it works on, the team at DP Energy draws on its long international experience in developing renewables projects in a bid to achieve the overall goal of reducing the world’s reliance on fossil fuels.
To achieve this vision, the company is investing heavily in the development of enabling technologies, those that support increased renewables penetration into the electricity network by addressing intermittency and/or grid stability. These technologies are as essential as the renewable generation plant itself in order to ensure full decarbonisation, and allow us to begin moving away from the need for fossil fuel generation plant and our reliance on foreign fuel sources.
Renewable energy generation technologies are typically intermittent in nature because they rely on natural resources: wind, sun, waves and tides. It is not possible to simply switch on the generation plant on demand and for that reason solutions need to be developed to utilise the abundant natural energy that is available when we do not need it so that we have it when we do need it. This is where enabling technologies come in.
This is typically done by storing the energy in batteries (battery energy storage systems: BESS) or by converting it into a different form of energy, for example, by pumped storage so that the energy can be released later through a hydro turbine (pumped hydro). An alternative approach to BESS and pumped hydro is to create and store the energy in a fuel such as hydrogen (or ammonia) using the power generated by the wind or sun which can then be released when required through burning in a gas turbine. As a dedicated developer of renewable energy projects, DP Energy is committed to integrating energy storage solutions within all its existing and proposed renewable energy developments where feasible and to developing standalone energy storage systems including hydrogen manufacturing, production and storage as part of its broader project portfolio.
Every renewable technology brings its own challenges when integration to the grid is considered. No single energy storage technology will be the solution for Ireland, and DP Energy are working with all technologies to identify efficient, sustainable solutions.
DP Energy’s vision of a world fully powered by renewable energy is achievable and the company plans to lead from the front to make this a reality, in Ireland and worldwide.
Adam Cronin, Yvonne Cronin, Simon de Pietro, DP Energy.
W: www.dpenergy.com Twitter: @energydp LinkedIn: DP Energy Group
