Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The ESB would and does keep me informed of its thinking. It is a decision for it. The White Paper will be published tomorrow but in the context of the transition we are embarked upon and that we must deliver to achieve a low carbon economy the fuel mix is an important policy question for the State and will have to be dealt with. Decisions will have to be made on Moneypoint within the next five years because it will come to the end of its current configuration in 2025. Moneypoint is well served by the grid. It is an important facility. I see a good future for it as a generator but the question is what to do if and when coal is phased out. The ESB could replace it with a new coal station and we would all have doubts about that. Some people advocate some carbon capture and sequestration for which there are new technologies. Would it be replaced with a gas-fired station or incorporate partial biomass? I do not exclude any of these possibilities but I listed the negative indicators that need to be addressed for conversion to biomass and the cost that would be visited on the consumer.

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