Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 29 March 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Energy Challenges: Discussion

Mr. Jim Gannon:

It is a fair question to ask. When we look at emergency response when a peak condition happens in a given winter and things are tight, this is called mandatory demand control. EirGrid will reach towards some of those demands first before it reaches others on the system in a rolling controlled rota load shedding that might be put in place. In terms of demand attenuation, which would be to look at the ramping of data centres or to look at new data centres coming in, that could come into a broader discussion about security of supply, such as the one we are having with the Department at the moment in terms of ramping. Separately, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is now conducting a review of the Government statement of policy on data centres and enterprise. There are a number of enterprise voices but also a number of energy voices around the table, including the CRU, ESB Networks, EirGrid and others. That broader dialogue around economic contribution, as well as externalities and the costs that might bring, are on the table and will be discussed. It is right that they would be discussed.