Mr. Dara Lynott:

My first reply is that the ESB, as opposed to us, is probably best placed to speak about its plans for Moneypoint. Like the Deputy, I heard the announcement and I have the same information as him. I believe it intends to shut down generation there but to have it as a potential backup for a number of years. As to what extent and the detail of it, unfortunately I am not able to give the Deputy information on this. It would have to come from the ESB.

From our perspective, there is no doubt that the vast bulk of the 40% increase in generation will come from wind according to our study. It will double in size from 5.5 GW capacity at present to 11.6 GW capacity. The amount of gas plant on the system will be roughly the same with regard to capacity but the number of hours will be far fewer.

If the interconnectors do not happen, there will be a real difficulty in managing the system. Our study assumes the Celtic, Greenlink and North-South interconnectors will be up and running. With regard to the timeframes, as is the committee we are very much reliant on EirGrid for these. The assumption is if they are available before 2030, they will be operational in 2030. Again, there is a huge caveat in our study, which is whether we can reach the ambition of electricity demand for electric vehicles and electric heat pumps and whether we can develop the types of storage technology needed. In the PLEXOS study, to maintain dispatch down at 7%, which is seen as an average by the industry, the gap has to be plugged with 1.1 GW of storage. I do not think our study is certain. It is a particular picture of the future, and like any picture of the future it is wrong almost before the print hits the page. However, it shows the challenge that meeting 70% by 2030 will create for building grid, operating grid, new technologies, interconnection and shifting demand from fossil fuels to plugs.