Dr. Brian Motherway:

We are hopeful that we will be exporting to the UK by the end of the decade. The intergovernmental discussions taking place at present are focusing on helping the UK to meet its 2020 targets. It will be well into the next decade before the relevant infrastructure such as interconnectors, etc. will be in place to allow us to start selling energy further afield. There is currently a strong trend towards a fully integrated European market, what some people refer to as the "supergrid", which will involve all countries being interconnected and power being moved over much longer distances. Even though it costs more to move power over a greater distance, the fact that the resource available in Ireland is so strong will compensate for this. The benefits of generating electricity in Ireland are sufficiently strong to cover the cost of transmitting it over longer distances.

Our competitors will be other countries with strong resources. We are of the view, however, that we have the potential to be a strong leader in the field. It will be a question of whether the relevant technologies will be deployed. Some countries, such as Britain and Germany, are focusing a great deal on offshore wind energy at present, which is more expensive to generate than onshore wind energy. I accept, however, that the costs will decrease as technology develops. The imperatives to move towards renewables and away from fossil fuels are so strong globally that there will be opportunities for many technologies to develop. I do not believe there will be only one winner. There will be market opportunity for anyone who can develop solutions which can be used to generate clean electricity and move it at a reasonable cost. As a result of the fact that Ireland is a relatively small-scale player, it could be generating a great deal of electricity by its standards, but this would not mean that we would be taking over the European market or would be obliged to beat every other player. In light of our natural comparative advantage in this sector, we could be part of a healthy market.