Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I thank Mr. Smith for his presentation. Everyone recognises that driving forward our renewable energy ambitions is complex. Storage is an integral part of that. How far short are we of surviving on the normal revenue that would come from being able to access one third of the renewable capacity, which he said is the stream of potential? There is potentially a very substantial amount of revenue that could be generated. What is Energy Storage Ireland looking for from the system? Is Mr. Smith talking about a guaranteed price, with clawbacks above and below it? What is the scale of that compared with spot pricing the market?

I am interested in regional locations. Will storage be located close to centres in which renewable energy is generated? If so, what are the implications for expenditure and jobs, the impact on regional locations and environmental impact? Does ESI face planning constraints similar to some of the issues that have arisen from efforts to reinforce the network to accommodate renewable energy generally?

What is Mr. Smith's projection of the amount of long- to medium-term storage needed for 2030, 2040 and 2050? Is there a guide path? He seemed to signal that there are loads of competing technologies. I presume there would be one auction and all bidders would have to sink or swim. The market would take care of which is the superior technology. Is that how it will work?