Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 26 June 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment

Future Exploration, Energy Supply and Energy Security: Discussion

12:00 pm

Mr. Tim Gould:

Yes. Even when one does get down to a much lower emissions system, that does not necessarily have uniform implications for different fuels within that system. I want to highlight one aspect of the role of natural gas in that respect. As members all know, one of the issues that is facing policymakers is that there is a large share of renewables in the system. Those renewables are variable and one needs to be able to cover for those moments when, famously, the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining, so we need to think through the implications of that dark winter day or that period during the winter when wind is not producing as much as it could. One needs to think about how we guarantee the security of electricity supply under those circumstances. In typical systems where one is looking to try and compensate for that variability over a relatively short period of time then there is a multitude of options.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.