Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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The regulator's take is that the demand from data centres is rampant and historic. It is reassuring to hear that from a regulator because there has been a lot of appeasing talk in recent years regarding the increase in demand and capacity, as if to suggest that we will be grand with a few tweaks here and there. I am interested in the data centre policy that the regulator will release later this month. From where does the regulator see the most capacity and reliability coming?

I have a couple of questions for the representatives of EirGrid, one of which has been asked twice already. Does Mr. Foley think it would be helpful to bring forward the RESS auction for onshore renewables to enable renewables to connect more swiftly? What if it was brought forward to this year?

One of the major challenges of the past few months has been the low wind speed. There are times when wind is available but the grid is not able to accommodate it. Part of the reason is that there are operational constraints, such as the system non-synchronous penetration, SNSP, limit and the fossil fuel generation requirement. Will the representatives of EirGrid outline the timelines for raising the SNSP limit and reducing the fossil fuel requirement? Will the completion of the synchronous condenser in Clare assist in reducing the minimum generation constraint?

EirGrid's submission to the committee referred to data centres and that the growth in demand is accommodated by an appropriate policy framework, which seeks to ensure that all parties collaborate on an approach that responds to the temporary constraints in the current system and that can be resolved on an enduring basis. What does that mean? Could the representatives of EirGrid tell me how all parties collaborate when data centres are guzzling so much energy? There is a data centre planned for Celbridge. I was talking last night to a mother, a carer in Celbridge, who relies on electricity for oxygen nebulisers for her kids. Where is the parity of esteem there?