Green Energy Use in Ireland Rises to 17% - Eirgrid Annual Report

[C. Flower]

The proportion of renewable energy used in Ireland has risen to 17%. There are a lot of question marks about the costs of renewables, but oil prices are inexorably rising and there have been improvements in renewable technology.

Renewable sources accounted for 17% of energy provision in Ireland in 2011 — up by 3% on the previous year.
The figure, published by Eirgrid yesterday, keeps Ireland on track to meet its obligations of sourcing 40% of its total annual energy needs from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2020.

Eirgrid is in the midst of implementing its Grid25 programme, which will overhaul the long-term electricity supply in Ireland.

Originally costing €4bn to implement, Eirgrid last year said it should come in at €800m under budget, at a final cost of €3.2bn.

However, chief executive Dermot Byrne yesterday said that with the onset of new technology the total cost could be even lower. He added that the final costs of the East-West Interconnector — which will electrically connect Ireland with Britain and, ultimately, mainland Europe — should also come in under its initial €600m budget.

"A stronger grid will provide benefits to all regions of Ireland. The East-West Interconnector will enable us to participate in the UK and European electricity markets," chairperson Bernie Gray said, adding that the upgraded grid will provide a platform for economic recovery and inward investment.

Mr Byrne said the first auction for capacity on the East-West Interconnector will take place this summer, with the project set to be completed in September.
It will, he added, "develop a new and indigenous sector — the energy export market".

He said the recent €500m investment in the new electricity link between Munster and Leinster will enable Ireland to have a 21st century grid, "modern enough and flexible enough to cater for the requirements of future generations".

Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/busines...#ixzz1sclgeK3N

[Shaadi]

That's quite impressive, a breakdown of the details and the costs involved in generating that 17% would be very useful.

[Count Bobulescu]

That's quite impressive, a breakdown of the details and the costs involved in generating that 17% would be very useful.

That is impressive, you can bet Eirgrid has the cost info, maybe in the annual report. It would be worth getting a copy. Green still tends to be more expensive but the costs are coming down rapidly.

[Yojimbo]

There is lots of very interesting information on the Eirgrid website, especially on this page:

http://www.eirgrid.com/operations/sy...rformancedata/

The 'live' feed for wind energy is always very interesting for energy nerds (and those who want to only use their washing machine when there is a high proportion of renewables in the mix):

http://www.eirgrid.com/operations/sy...indgeneration/

Comparing energy costs though is very difficult, as each energy source differs in its cost curve. Gas, for example, is expensive to use, but cheap to install. Most renewables require a lot of 'front loaded' capital costs, but are cheap to maintain. Nuclear costs are front and backloaded (construction and decommissioning), but relatively cheap to run (fuel costs are very low). So your comparison of costs depends heavily on assumptions on discount rates and future fuel/capital costs, etc.

To add an extra complication, different energy sources have different grid costs. Wind has the advantage of being a decentralised energy source, whereby (in theory) turbines can be located to maximise grid capacity. But at the same time, its intermittency puts particular strain on networks.

Which basically means there is no universally accepted way of comparing the costs of different energy sources on an annualized basis.