An Irish Planning Students Blog

IRELAND IS set to overshoot its target for generating 40 per cent of its electricity needs from renewable energy by 2020, Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan revealed yesterday.

Mr Ryan, addressing the National Summit on Renewable Energy at Croke Park, Dublin, said renewable energy targets were ahead of target and “about three” new interconnectors linking Ireland to the UK and France were in planning. In addition, he had recently approved a study on an undersea high voltage cable which would link offshore-wind farms to electricity grids on both sides of the Irish Sea, he revealed.

Mr Ryan was speaking as the European Commission signed off on a grant of €110 million for the development of the east-west interconnector between Deeside in Wales and Co Meath.

The European Investment Bank has also announced “soft loans” which will see up to €300 million invested in the interconnector. A further allocation of up to €200 million has been approved by the bank for development of the ESB’s renewable energy businesses, principally wind farms.

But while the Minister said Ireland was “as good as it gets, electrically” and he was in a position to offer “to the Googles of this world” clean, secure energy, he clashed with the banking industry on their support for renewable projects.

Source:  IrishTimes

CHARLIE TAYLOR

The amount of electricity generated by Ireland’s wind farms broke the 1,000 megawatts (MW) barrier for the first time last weekend, providing enough power to supply the needs of 650,000 homes.

The very windy conditions last weekend resulted in an all-time peak wind output of 1064 MW on Saturday, generating enough power to supply the needs of 650,000 homes, according to EirGrid.

Wind output remained high throughout the day, with renewable energy at some times supplying 33 per cent of demand from electricity customers.

“This recent high level of wind generation shows the significant potential we have in Ireland to utilise this clean, green, indigenous fuel,” said Dermot Byrne, chief executive of EirGrid, the agency that operates the State’s electricity transmission system.

“Ireland has ambitious renewable energy targets and the breaking of the 1,000 MW barrier for the first time is a significant step on the road to meeting them,” he added.

Ireland is reputed to have the best general wind resource in Europe and wind farms here have a higher average output than those on the continent. Currently, there are over 90 wind farms in operation which have the capacity to supply up to a maximum of 1,161 MW at optimum conditions.

In addition, Ireland has 238 MW of capacity from hydro stations in counties Cork, Dublin, Donegal and Clare and a further 58 MW of power capacity from landfill gas.

The Government wants 15 per cent of all electricity used in the Republic to be generated from renewable sources by next year.

Source: IrishTimes

OFFSHORE WIND energy producers are hoping major support for the industry will be signalled by EU Commissioner for Energy Andris Piebalgs, when he addresses their annual conference in Dublin today.

Currently in excess of 2,500 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind energy are in planning, alongside about another 8,000MW of onshore wind energy, representing potential investment of about €23 billion.

But while this represents just a fraction of the island’s total wind energy potential, the electricity is vastly in excess of Ireland’s own demand, and selling it abroad is dependent on major investment in the national grid and interconnectors to the UK.

Members of the National Offshore Wind Association (Now) which holds its annual conference today, are hoping Mr Piebalgs will say EU enthusiasm to replace imported fossil fuels with renewable energy will result in financial support for developing the Irish industry.

In recent weeks the European Investment Bank announced up to €300 million in soft loans for an interconnector between Ireland and the UK, while a further allocation of up to €200 million was approved for development of the ESB’s renewable energy businesses, principally wind farms.

However, given the potential of Irish wind energy, Now says many more interconnectors will be needed if wind energy is to be exploited.

Sources told The Irish Times an alternative proposal, that Irish wind farms located in the Irish Sea would seek connections to the UK grid, is also being considered. A third possibility is that a separate grid would be established to cater for offshore power.

A report from wind turbine manufacturer Siemens in recent weeks, calculated the value of proposed European wind farms over the next 25 years to be more than €300 billion.

Proposed Irish offshore wind farms included in this calculation were:

Clogher Head Oriel Wind Farm, which projects 330MW;

Dublin Array Saorgus Energy, offering 725MW;

Proposal from Codling Bank Fred Olsen/Treasury Holdings would add 1100MW;

Airtricity is offering 500MW through its Arklow Bank 2 project;

Na Sceirde Fuinneamh in Co Galway is projecting 100MW.

Based on calculations by Siemens that it costs in the region of €3 million per MW to install wind generation, Irish members of Now would account for a potential investment of almost €7 billion.

Source:  IrishTimes – www.irishtimes.com

Lets hope the ESB will speed up the connection of wind farms in the future. This industry appears to have great potential for employment in the future and who knows if we get it right we could make a good deal of money from selling the extra electricity we dont use.

I would also like to mention that an explosion of on shore windfarms may not be welcomed as well, as one would think.  Because lets face it, they can be seen from a fare distance away, they ain’t small!! I know EIS’s can be a right pain to get right, but they all come together to allow the authorities to make a better judgement of these turbines on the people and the land. Maybe offshore is a much better way to go? Sure there some proper winds out of the west cost.

Floating Wind Farms thats what we need, move them around over the contential shelf like the oil rigs do!

Good to see so much money will be invested though.

SOME €300 billion is set to be invested in European offshore windfarms over the next 20 years, according to a new report from wind turbine manufacturer Siemens.

The company, which recently signed contracts to supply up to 500 wind turbines for Dong Energy’s offshore windfarms in northern Europe, said there were existing commitments from investors for about 100 gigawatts (100,000 mega watts) across the continent.

At an installation cost cost of about €3 million per mega watt, Siemens said the total potential investment was in the order of €300 billion.

The company warned however that Ireland’s system of queuing projects for “gate” connections to the national grid meant Ireland would not be quick to achieve a significant share of the potential.

Currently the Republic has five offshore windfarms in the pipeline with a potential generating capacity of 2,655 mega watts, representing potential investment of almost €7 billion.

The next allocation of grid connections, known as Gate III, is due by next year. According to the Irish Wind Energy Association, though, Gate III is likely to give permissions for grid connections timed for about 2016.

Association chief executive Michael Walsh said some of the projects which might be approved under Gate III had been in the pipeline since 2004. To be in the pipeline since 2004 with a possible offer next year, and a potential connection in 2016, represented too much uncertainty over too long a time, he said.

Mr Walsh said, taking onshore and offshore wind proposals together, “there is about eight gigawatts in development, with a potential investment value of €16 billion to €18 billion”. About 3.9 giga watts were expected to be sanctioned by Gate III, he said.

A Department of Energy source acknowledged the difficulty but referred to plans by EirGrid to double the grid capacity under a €4 billion investment, by 2025.

The source also said it was planned to transfer control of the foreshore from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of the Environment in a bid to expedite the planning process for off-shore installations.

“We must upgrade the grid,” the source added. “There are parts of the country, usually where the wind is, where the network would not support the connection. Also we want to streamline planning and control so connections are ready and licences can be awarded like those for oil and gas.”
Source: IRISHTIMES

This look’s pretty sweet, for the electricity network. Hopefully it will be fully utilized for exporting all the wind energy that we have already built and in the pipeline.  Who know’s maybe one day we could become a wind energy giant with the west coast as just one big massive wind farm!

NATIONAL ELECTRICITY network operator Eirgrid yesterday got the green light for its planned €600 million power link between Wales and Ireland.

Eirgrid said that An Bord Pleanála has given it permission to build an interconnector between the east coast and north Wales that will transmit electricity between Britain and Ireland.

The interconnector will have the capacity to carry 500 megawatts of electricity, roughly the same amount as of that generated by a medium-sized power plant.

According to Eirgrid, this is enough power to supply 300,000 homes. The project will require an investment of €600 million. Its construction will create about 100 jobs and work will be finished in 2012.

The grid operator has hired Swedish company ABB to carry out the work. The firm manufactures cables, switches and most equipment needed by electricity transmission systems. It also designs and builds the systems itself.

The interconnector will link Deeside in north Wales and Woodland in Co Meath, where Eirgrid operates a substation. It will come ashore close to Rush, Co Dublin.

Eirgrid, a State agency, applied to An Bord Pleanála’s strategic infrastructure division for permission to build the interconnector. Eirgrid chief executive Dermot Byrne described the planning board’s decision as a major milestone, and added that the project will be delivered on time.

“As an island of five million people that is over 90 per cent dependent on imported fossil fuels for our energy, we have an immediate and pressing need to improve our security of supply, and to enhance our capacity to generate renewable energy. The east-west interconnector will help us do both,” he said.

The Irish Times

We shall see how it goes!