Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 30 January 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

General Oversight of EirGrid: Discussion

Dr. Liam Ryan:

I agree with Mr. Foley. The target for 2030 will not be met in the time horizon we are looking at. Beyond 2030, I believe it will come and it needs to come quickly. The entire ecosystem needs to examine how we bring down the price of floating technology. It is at an early stage of development. Some work is being done on it, in particular in Scotland which is looking at the scale of floating offshore energy. For the 2030 time horizon, there is enough potential on the east and south coasts to meet what we need in respect of connecting to the system, aligned with Government policy. We are acutely aware that, beyond 2030, we need to consider how we harvest that energy appropriately and how it is exported.