Dr. Liam Ryan:

I thank Senator Boylan for her very good questions. On the 70% renewable target, we are looking at our demand increasing by about 50% over the 2030 time horizon. We are also looking at 5 GW of offshore renewables coming on to system, which is the most effective and efficient way of connecting the renewables to our main demand centres. Our main demand centre is in the Dublin region. We are looking to connect that demand directly into those regions. That leaves the additional megawatts needed to meet the 70% renewable target, which equates to 1.3 GW offshore, as the Senator noted. From that, we developed the grid that would need to be built around that. As we move towards the 80% target, we are looking at what the optimal gain is, as Mr. Foley said, around the grid that must be built to move us from the 70% target to 80% and where the most effective and efficient sources are, both between onshore wind and solar and offshore wind, to connect on to the system to meet the new targets. We will look at projects that are in flight and that do that to make sure we get that on the system as quickly as we possible can in the most effective and efficient way.

On the second question, we always look at other technologies. When we looked at the 70% renewable target we clearly called out that demand-side participation is needed between now and 2030 to meet the targets. We also looked at other technologies. We are looking at battery storage coming on to the system and we think 1.4 GW is needed by 2030. We are talking about balanced portfolios after 2026. We are saying that 1 GW of battery storage will be required in that time horizon. If other technologies come on, we will look at them.

We are calling out the need for conventional gas generation. We are making it clear that everything must be renewable gas-ready so that when hydrogen or other renewable gases come forward we will be able to decarbonise those technologies out of the system very quickly. That will give us the benefit as we move into the next decade. That gives us a clear security of supply. The reason we say that conventional generation is needed is that there are periods when the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine. In such situations we need to ensure we have enough generation on the system to meet the demand we have. There can be periods of perhaps a week where the output of the renewable sector is below demand. Having batteries and storage helps but we need to be able to charge those batteries. Therefore, we need to have some conventional generation to do that. That is why we have highlighted the conventional generation that we need. At the same time, the older, higher carbon intensity generators are also closing off the system in the next ten years or so.