Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 22 March 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Energy - Ambition and Challenge: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Pat Keating:

On offshore grid connectivity, part of the work we have engaged in - I talked about the multisite approach we are taking because we have a number of sites - is to look, in consultation with EirGrid, at how potentially we could bring that grid ashore. We want to end up with a profile of how we will bring the offshore grid into the Shannon Estuary and not interfere with shipping channels, anchorages and all of that. A big part of the work relates to that. I am sure the Deputy is more than aware that a big part of the work in respect of the onshore grid relates to the two large fossil fuel stations on the Shannon Estuary. One is at Moneypoint, which is 918 MW, and the other at Tarbert Island is 650 MW. Those two stations are due to convert throughout this decade. There is, potentially,1.5 GW or 1.6 GW connectivity already in place on the Shannon Estuary, which is important. There is existing onshore grid connectivity. We are doing work to see how the offshore grid will interact with the onshore grid and, not just that, how on those sites we can bring power onshore potentially for the production of alternative fuels for electrolyser usage.