Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the issue of how Ireland is responding to its obligations to balance its ability to generate sufficient power to satisfy its needs with its obligations in respect of decarbonisation and climate change. It is Government policy that the ESB's coal-burning power station at Moneypoint in County Clare will cease production by 2025. Moneypoint is an old coal-burning station, which at its full capacity has the capacity to provide 900 MW of power and which plays a very important role in electricity generation in Ireland. It provides a cheap, stable source of electricity. The closure of the plant at Moneypoint presents the Government with a major problem in maintaining sufficient production of reasonably priced energy for a growing economy while meeting its international climate change obligations. According to EUROSTAT, the cost of producing electricity in Ireland in 2017 was quite high. Burning coal leaves a huge carbon footprint, which results in Ireland facing large fines of up to €600 million for missing its carbon emission targets and climate change obligations. Emitting greenhouse gases comes at a price.

What will replace the power station at Moneypoint in 2025? How will the ESB replace its capacity to generate power if the station is closed completely? What are the plans in that regard? Can Moneypoint be converted into a station which uses an alternative source of energy such as biomass or gas? Can electricity generated from renewable sources such as offshore wind energy and tidal energy, which is available in abundance in the Shannon Estuary, be harnessed and channelled through Moneypoint? Can the station be used as a landfall location for electricity produced from such renewable sources?

Moneypoint is an important part of the electricity grid structure, the high-voltage lines of which radiate across the country. The question is whether it can generate enough renewable energy to replace that generated by coal. Will the Tánaiste give me an indication of what the Government plans to do in respect of the plant at Moneypoint, which will cease burning coal in six years? We need to be proactive on this matter and not wait until the last minute.

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