Ireland’s planning for grid infrastructure must look beyond 2030 and consider the optimal design of our electricity system for the decarbonisation of the entire Irish energy system in the long-run.
SuperNode responded to the consultation run by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communication (DECC): Electricity Interconnection Policy – Technical Consultation published on 10 June 2022.
SuperNode CEO John Fitzgerald said:
“We should adopt an approach of planning for anticipatory grid infrastructure investments for decarbonisation as proposed by the European Parliament. Ireland has the potential to be a renewable energy superpower but we need to develop effective and efficient routes to market in times of excess power or deficit between Ireland, Britain and Continental Europe.
The current incremental approach to grid infrastructure development, whereby we slowly facilitate the increasing levels of renewables, will not deliver for Ireland or Europe.”
The response emphasised the need for a pan-European approach to grid planning enabled by a new European institutional set-up and that it is in Ireland’s interests to be at the forefront of this movement:
“The planning and deployment of such an offshore Supergrid would require a new, European institutional setup in the form of an “Architect” that must ensure that efforts are efficiently deployed, that grid investments are efficiently undertaken, and that Europe’s renewable energy resources are extracted and supplied to consumers in the most cost-effective manner. It would be in Ireland’s self-interest to spearhead and promote a pan-European grid in the EU, including the UK and Norway.”
There also needs to be an evaluation of the legislative framework for interconnection requirements beyond point-to-point. Technologies such as hybrid interconnection will be critical to developing a meshed offshore grid, which is currently not adequately reflected at an Irish or an EU level.
Finally, SuperNode’s response makes the point that current transmission grid technology is not sufficient to move around the levels of power that will be needed in Europe’s future, renewables powered system. Thus innovation, such as superconductor cables which can minimise energy losses, materials, environmental impacts and costs must be prioritised:
“The government should ensure that Eirgrid facilitates and encourages innovation in grid technology and does not limit itself to a premature selection of copper-based technology. Licence conditions and incentives should be reviewed to encourage the adoption of new technologies to enable our renewable future.”
View SuperNode’s full consultation response here.
SuperNode also contributed to and supports the comments by Wind Energy Ireland (WEI) found here.