Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

No. For example, the greenlink interconnector cannot possibly be done in the old UK merchant line way where it just comes into the Irish system without giving us flexibility to reduce curtailment and constraint. Its facility has to be under EirGrid's control if we are going to have the Danish and Dutch model to which Mr. Foley referred. We need that level of strategic thinking to indicate to that company straightaway that this is the way we are going to do it. I would look at the Danish operator, Energinet, as a very good example of how to model interconnection to show the social gains. That company can, in effect, borrow as the state. It borrows as a state facility and gets ten year money for next to nothing. EirGrid should be doing the same and owning the assets down the line. EirGrid should be building up its asset base as we undertake this task in the same way as the Danish TSO, in particular, does.

If I am thinking big, I have to turn to the west coast. We have to think about the post-2030 scenario. If we are serious about where we are going and if this revolution is going to work for north-west Europe, Ireland has a responsibility as a member of the north-west Europe energy market to put 15 GW of offshore wind into the system. One could do 5 GW in the north-west, 5 GW in the west and 5 in the south-west. Using HVDC cable technology, the energy could be shipped either through Ireland or around it to the rest of the north-west European electricity market. Part of this committee's job is to put forward ideas and I am very keen to present the idea of a 15 GW offshore facility. It is the answer to those who ask why we are not doing oil and gas exploration off the west coast. As far as I can see, the floating technology is here as is the HVDC cable technology. I do not know if EirGrid has looked at what the Chinese are doing with their belt and road on HVDC long-distance power distribution, but it is fantastic. They are way ahead of us and really thinking big in the revolution, as is California. As one of the world leaders on the very cutting edge of what is happening, why would we not go for 15 GW now? Let us say that is our intention and start to plan now the transition grid, which is the key thing to get right, and design the routing, whether it is offshore and around the island or across it underground. Has EirGrid started to look at that?