Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 16 July 2025

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy

Climate Change Targets 2026-2030: Electricity Sector

2:00 am

Mr. Cathal Marley:

I will take it at a very high level and then Dr. Ryan is the expert on this. It is not just about battery storage. There are a few elements. One reason for dispatching down windfarms is constraints and that is the grid. The wind might be generated in one area and we are not able to transport it to an area of demand. That is the grid infrastructure programme in price review 6 that we are putting in place and have been working on. The other is grid operation innovation, where we are bringing on renewables. That has to be done very carefully. We have recently seen what happens when that does not go right. We have increased that from 60% to 75% and we have to be very careful about how we do it. We cannot just bring on every bit of wind that is there. We have to keep a conventional plant on to keep the grid stable. We are working really hard on that and using a lot of innovation. Dr. Ryan can speak to that. The others are battery storage, which the Deputy mentioned and which will help as well, and demand-side flexibility, which Mr. Tarrant mentioned. The interconnectors are going to be really useful. They are going to be good for security of supply and affordability as well, hopefully. There is an interplay between interconnectors, conventional plants on the island and a renewable plant. That does need to be worked out. Interconnectors are really good and are really important to us, but there is a balance between interconnection and the renewables that we need to work through.

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