Mr. Jim Gannon:

For all the technologies we need to move us to 2030 and beyond, what is critical is that we see them in front of us now. There is a combination of flexible gas to be used when required. They involve storage, both battery and other longer-term storage, and, separately, system services that provide stability to the grid. Effectively, they manage power quality as we let more wind on to the system as we respond to changes in that profile of generation and demand specifically. These are well understood technologies. It is now a matter of sending the approximate economic signal to the market, thereby derisking certain processes. Part of that dialogue would be around the planning, environmental licensing and other ancillary processes relating to support infrastructure, for example, for water supply where required, and the policy signal, which is quite important to many developers whose overarching boards have environmental, social and governance, ESG, requirements. Where we are requesting that participants provide us with flexible gas supply, many now see that as aligned with our climate ambitions and our obligations under the legally binding climate Act, but also allowing us to consider a decarbonisation pathway for that gas. That is quite important. We are not just asking them to invest in a nine-year perspective that we will need gas until 2030 but that it is considered as necessary beyond that and that it becomes part of a decarbonisation pathway for that gas, involving perhaps green gas and, particularly for Ireland in terms of a long-term economic opportunity powered to gas, the use of hydrogen and those technologies as the technology becomes mature and comes down the cost curve, which would provide Ireland with the best opportunity to create national wealth from the natural resource we have blessed with given our geographic position.