Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We need to ensure that our auction system delivers. It will deliver. We are seeing a solar revolution happening. The companies are seeing a fivefold increase in demand. It is an absolute explosion that will go further. From talking to energy companies, I hear that battery storage technology is evolving. The deployment of that will go way beyond what previously might have been expected. It is important and we will deliver on the back of gas-fired generation, not just some of these open-cycle plants, but I expect further auctions may look at the potential for combined cycle or other technologies. That combination of renewables backed up with storage and where necessary with fossil fuel-powered generation in times when there is no wind and no sun will deliver us to a future whereby by 2030 we are using 80% renewable and after that we start switching to things like hydrogen and get to a zero-carbon energy system. There is a path.