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Why is COP26 Relevant to You?
Mark Ennis, chairman of SSE plc in Ireland.
As we count down to pivotal UN climate change talks in Glasgow in November, Mark Ennis, chairman of SSE plc in Ireland, says Northern Ireland can be a leader in gaining the economic benefits from a global 2050 Net Zero target.
You might be tempted to look at the world’s biggest Climate Change Conference as a talking shop for politicians each trying to outdo the other in terms of how they will save the planet! It’s much more than that.
It’s not the rhetoric that is important. It will be the measurable, date-stamped and legally binding targets committed to by the world’s most powerful nations that are the key. Those commitments will set the framework for all policy decisions going forward for those countries for the next 30 years!
With the importance of these talks in mind and given how the final agreed policies will affect us all, SSE and our group of low-carbon businesses, including SSE Airtricity and SSE Renewables, was proud to announce
63
last November our role as a Principal Partner of the UK government for COP26. For us the partnership makes perfect sense given our vision to be a leading energy company in a net zero world.
The UK and Europe will publicly commit to legally binding targets. That means Northern Ireland will also be required to commit and play its part in achieving those targets.
This in turn will drive local policy and strategy in terms of investment in infrastructure, energy, innovation, agriculture and planning to name only the key areas. In short this will change how we do business in these areas. Change offers opportunity.
Countries that show leadership and ambition can capture some of the $150 billion spread across 80 global investment funds that already
exist and are looking for opportunities to put their dollars to work.
To capture our piece of the pot Northern Ireland needs to be seen as a good place to invest. That means joined-up government.
If there is one cause that can unite our Executive, surely, it’s a commitment to tackling climate change. The Department for the Economy (DfE) and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) have made a good start with the forthcoming Energy Strategy and Climate Change Bill, but it’s not enough.
We need our commitment to be articulated by the First and Deputy First Ministers. We need legally binding five-year targets on the road to 2050 for the Departments for the Economy, for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, and for the Department for Infrastructure. Not only do we need targets, we need to see their implementation plans on how they will meet those targets.
In addition, we need the scope of the Utility Regulator to be broadened to include climate targets to enable them to support a more ambitious role for the electricity network. If we can achieve this, investors and businesses will have the necessary foundation to make Northern Ireland a leader in gaining the economic benefits arising from a global 2050 Net Zero target.
Northern Ireland has already shown that its universities and colleges together with its businesses with the support of Invest NI, can deliver world-leading innovation. The road to Net Zero will require innovation in renewables, batteries, hydrogen, electric vehicles, food production and packaging to name but a few.
Opportunities extend beyond those focused on innovation. Delivery of the infrastructure we need to meet Net Zero will deliver massive economic benefit. And the proof is already evident here in Northern Ireland. If we look at our own 73MW Slieve Kirk Wind Park, Northern Ireland’s largest wind farm situated outside Derry City, it is delivering an economic power boost to our economy and our communities worth a massive £55 million over its lifetime. Local businesses, councils and communities have benefitted and are continuing to benefit from the construction and operation of Slieve Kirk Wind Park.
Now, multiply out the impact of Slieve Kirk to meet our Net Zero need, and you get an insight into the potential of the opportunities that meeting Net Zero can create.
Put simply, we need over 1200 MW of renewable energy in Northern Ireland to meet a 70% renewable energy target by 2030. That’s over 15 times the current scale and output of Slieve Kirk. Not only would that set us on the road to Net Zero by 2050, it would equate to delivering an eye-watering £900,000,000 of local investment opportunity to businesses and community here.
And that’s what makes COP26 relevant to all of us.
SSE develops, owns and operates low-carbon infrastructure to support the zero-carbon transition. Headquartered in Perth, Scotland, SSE is UK-listed in the FTSE100. SSE is a Principal Partner of the UK government for COP26, the United Nations climate change talks taking place in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2021.
The 73MW Slieve Kirk Wind Park in Co. Derry-Londonderry entered operation in 2012 and is Northern Ireland’s largest grouped wind farm development. Developed by SSE Renewables, the energy generated at Slieve Kirk Wind Park powers SSE Airtricity, Northern Ireland’s second largest energy provider. In 2012 SSE Renewables published a detailed case study that demonstrates that Slieve Kirk Wind Park is delivering £55m in economic benefit.
POWERING OUR LOCAL ECONOMY
SSE’s total investment in Slieve Kirk Wind Park through the development of these two wind farms totalled £125million.
SSE is committed to powering Northern Ireland’s greener future, and powering our local economy. Through Slieve Kirk Wind Park, the company invested £36million during construction with local supply chain companies, supporting jobs and enterprise at 75 local businesses. Over its estimated 25-year lifetime, SSE expects to pay out £18.5million to the Co. Derry-Londonderry community through annual commercial rates payments, landowner leases and community funding. This brings to around £55million the total local investment that SSE has made into the region through Slieve Kirk Wind Park. SUSTAINING JOBS AND CREATING OPPORTUNITIES
Through SSE’s £36 million local supply chain investment in the construction of the Slieve Kirk Wind Park we sustained jobs, created opportunities and stimulated enterprise with local businesses across the region.
In addition, we created 276 on-site construction jobs in the delivery of the wind park, more than 60% of whom lived within 15 miles of the project site.
In addition to creating and supporting supply chain jobs during the construction of Slieve Kirk Wind Park, we have created direct local employment to operate the wind farm as part of our wider operational fleet of wind farms in the North West. Around 20 full time workers are currently employed to operate Slieve Kirk Wind Park alongside our 84MW Meentycat Wind Farm in neighbouring County Donegal. All of these SSE Renewables team members live in the North West, bringing local knowledge and expertise to the SSE Renewables team. THE NUMBERS BEHIND SLIEVE KIRK WIND PARK
£55 Million
local SSE investment out of £125 million CapEx
75
Number of local suppliers used*
Percentage of suppliers used considered SMEs:
85% considered SMEs
63,000
No. of homes powered †
POWERING NORTHERN IRELAND’S GREENER FUTURE
Slieve Kirk Wind Park was delivered through the development of the original 27MW Slieve Kirk wind farm near Ardmore with a 46MW expansion of capacity developed at Glenconway Hill, outside Limavady. Slieve Kirk Wind Park generates around 200GWh† of electricity each year, producing enough green energy to power over 63,000† Northern Ireland homes, and has significantly decarbonsied energy generation in the country.
