Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 5 October 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Energy Charter Treaty, Energy Security, Liquefied Natural Gas and Data Centres: Discussion (resumed)

Mr. Jim Gannon:

There was also a tail of a question about diversity of supply in the international context. It is worth reflecting on the fact that as recently as two weeks ago, Great Britain lost a significant portion of its interconnection with France through a fire at one of the facilities. I think it lost 1 GW. Although that was considered important, there is sufficient diversification of supply in the UK to accommodate that, not only in terms of its interconnection portfolio. The UK already has or is exploring interconnection with Belgium, Germany and Norway. It is exploring further interconnection and that is a conscious decision to ensure diversity of interconnection. The UK is less dependent on a single primary fuel. In terms of our interconnection with the UK and our future interconnection with France, we are looking for some of that diversification of electrical power supply.