Seanad debates

Thursday, 27 October 2022

Development (Emergency Electricity Generation) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages

 

10:00 am

Photo of Lynn BoylanLynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will speak briefly in favour of the amendment. I have raised the need to prioritise battery storage a couple of times at meetings of the joint committee. In Britain, battery storage is now displacing gas-powered generation. One of the concerns is about hybrid power plants for which we do not have the legislative framework, although it is part of the programme for Government. I would like to see that progressed so that battery storage can replace fossil-fuel generated electricity capacity.

Another area of concern is that this process is being controlled manually by the grid because the grid needs a software update to facilitate batteries providing that emergency capacity. We know batteries take power from the grid to charge up and then put that power back into the grid. This requires EirGrid to perform a software update, which I hope will be prioritised.

The other area of concern I have about batteries is one I will raise again when we debate horse racing and greyhound funding in the coming weeks.It is very clear that where applications are going in now for these battery storage facilities, very wealthy individuals are orchestrating very well-funded campaigns trying to object to battery storage. I hope that features when we are funding the industry.

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