Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Investment is being made, including €30 billion provided in the national development plan. We have significant potential in this area, including offshore wind. However, this technology is costly to develop, especially on the west coast where there are deep seas and wind factors. Although prices are dropping in Europe, it is likely that subsidies will be required if there is to be significant development of offshore wind.

EirGrid predicts that onshore wind generation will continue to grow across all scenarios in Ireland as the cost of the wind industry decreases over time, with potential for an increase in onshore wind capacity of 5,000 MW by 2030. In addition, solar photovoltaic, PV, generation has become a more economically viable form of electricity generation. It is likely that we will see large-scale solar PV connecting to the system at an increasing rate during the mid-2020s without the need for a subsidy due to the decreasing capital costs.

Large-scale grid connected battery usage energy storage will likely connect across the renewables such as solar and wind to help reduce curtailment levels. Household battery energy storage will likely connect to the domestic solar PV to provide additional self-consumption for consumers. All of these initiatives are taking place and will continue. They are the first steps.

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