Dáil debates

Wednesday, 29 June 2022

EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages

 

3:27 pm

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Priority is being given to renewables and that will make up 80% of our electricity generation capacity by the end of this decade. I am convinced of that. We have to do that to meet our climate targets but there is also the comparative competitive advantage that we have in renewables. We also know it requires backup that is open and flexible, particularly gas plant and combined cycle gas plant, in likelihood, to allow us to balance that. In periods when the wind is not blowing, we need to have backup capability. This specific legislation and these contractual arrangements are to provide exactly that. We are talking about a three-year to four-year time horizon for the use of the equipment. I do not believe that, within that timeframe, we would deliver, for example, anaerobic digestion and methane gas that could be used or, indeed, green hydrogen which would meet the criteria. Nonetheless, having talked to some of the suppliers around the world who sell this equipment, the sort of equipment we will be looking at will be hydrogen-compatible so that, in the future, as I said, particularly if there is a resale beyond a certain period, they could well switch to being zero carbon generators. Where we were able to manufacture and produce that green hydrogen, it could be used in these machines to varying degrees, depending on the particular machine.

Nothing in this impinges on, restricts or holds us back from our renewables ambitions. If anything it allows us to meet them. These machines will run very infrequently. They are only a last resort. When all units have been used and there is still insufficient capacity in the system, that is when these machines will be used. I cannot accept the amendment because, as I said, the purpose is to contract machines such as this which will, potentially, run on diesel or gas. In fact, there are ongoing discussions on possible sites. Several of them will possibly be run on distillate diesel. I do not believe we would provide zero-carbon biofuel distillate or zero-carbon hydrogen gas in the three- to four-year timeframe that is ahead of us, so I am afraid I cannot accept the amendment.

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