Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 30 March 2022
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection
National Action Plan on the Development of the Islands: Discussion (Resumed)
Mr. Dara Ó Maoldhia:
I will follow up on that with Mr. Finnegan, if the Chairperson does not mind. We have been working on the practicality of putting a turbine on Inis Meáin for years. Originally, our plan was to put two 900 kW turbines on the island. When we looked for the grid connection from the ESB, we were informed that the cable would not take it and could only take 650 kW. I did not hear the ESB responding in the way Mr. Finnegan responded, which is that the infrastructure will be put in when the demand is there. That is what I heard Mr. Finnegan say. Our demand is to be able to create enough energy on our three islands to supply ourselves, but the cable will not allow us to do that. We will not be exporting it all and we will not be using it all ourselves, but the cable has to be capable of taking it.
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