Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Keogan for raising this important matter. The national energy security framework published in April 2022 provided a single overarching and initial response to address Ireland’s energy security needs in the context of the war in Ukraine. It co-ordinates work connected to energy security across the electricity, gas and oil sectors and sets out a whole-of-government response to the challenges posed to energy security and energy affordability.

As set out in this framework, my Department is carrying out a review of the energy security of Ireland’s electricity and gas networks. This review is focused on the period to 2030 in the context of net zero emissions by 2050. It is considering the risks to both natural gas and electricity supplies, and a range of potential measures including the need for additional capacity of indigenous renewable energy but also the need for the importation of energy such as liquefied natural gas, energy storage, fuel diversification and renewable gases such as hydrogen.

The underlying technical analysis is being updated to take into account the war in Ukraine. The completion of the review as set out in the national energy security framework is scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of this year. Following this, the results will be brought to Government. The Government policy statement on importing fracked gas was approved by Government and published in May 2021. This policy statement provides that, pending the outcome of this review, it would not be appropriate for the development of any LNG terminals in Ireland to be permitted or proceeded with. As of now, the review is ongoing and the results have yet to be submitted to Government.

Hydrogen can be produced through a number of processes powered by a wide range of sources including fossil fuels, nuclear energy, biomass and renewable energy.The energy source, the production process and the by-products influence how carbon intensive hydrogen is. Different colours are used to indicate how the hydrogen is produced, the energy sources used and the carbon intensity of the hydrogen. Green hydrogen is sustainably produced from renewable electricity and has a zero-carbon intensity, while other types of hydrogen produced from fossil fuels are not of a zero-carbon intensity and can be classified as either grey or blue hydrogen, depending on the technology used to produce them. For example, grey hydrogen is produced using natural gas and a reformer, while blue hydrogen is produced using natural gas, a reformer and carbon capture and storage. Hydrogen produced from LNG is not classified as green hydrogen.

Ireland’s policy is such that hydrogen ought to be produced and deployed in the Irish energy system in a way that is coherent with our decarbonisation goals, in particular to avoid any potential locking in of non-green or non-renewable hydrogen use that fails to align with Ireland’s target of achieving net zero by 2050. Ireland has significant offshore wind potential and the production of green hydrogen from variable renewable electricity could help Ireland fully utilise its renewable resources to decarbonise, reducing significant levels of curtailed renewables and improving energy security. Therefore, our priority is for green hydrogen sustainably produced from renewable sources.

I thank Senator Keogan again for raising the issue and look forward to hearing her views and those of any other Senators.