Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 10: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on the motion of the undergrounding of the electricity grid passed at the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis. [10458/09]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 31: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views, in view of the recent Eirgrid report into the overhead versus underground lines for the Cavan-Tyrone, Meath-Cavan power lines, on the report's findings of an overhead line solution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10516/09]

Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 31 together.

I am aware of the Ard Fheis motion to which the Deputy refers.

While the Minister has no direct role in the operational planning and construction of the transmission system infrastructure, the Government's policy objective is to ensure that energy is consistently available with minimal risk of supply disruption to meet the needs of businesses and domestic consumers. It is EirGrid's role, as the national transmission system operator, to develop and upgrade the transmission system in order to meet ongoing and future electricity needs.

As part of EirGrid's pre-planning consultations and overall project development, EirGrid and Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) have jointly published a report on undergrounding issues specific to the proposed Meath Cavan and Cavan Tyrone transmission projects. The report by PB Power consultants notes that:

Overhead lines comprise over 98% of Europe's onshore electricity network. This trend is not expected to change in the foreseeable future;

For overhead transmission lines, temporary faults are generally caused by poor weather and can be remedied within less than a second. Persistent faults are rare and can usually be remedied in a matter of hours. For underground cables, a fault would invariably be persistent and average repair times would be a number of weeks. The introduction of significant quantities of underground cable, in strategically important circuits may therefore compromise system security;

Underground cables on the Meath Cavan and Cavan Tyrone routes would be over seven times more costly than overhead lines, costing €588m versus €81m for overhead lines. The operating costs would be €73m over the lifetime of the projects, versus €44m for overhead lines;

There are differing environmental impacts from both overhead lines and underground cables. Impacts can be mitigated by good route selection, design and construction management;

Electro Magnetic Fields from either overhead lines or underground cables would all be lower than European and International guidelines limits.

The PB Power report arrives at similar conclusions to the Independent Study on Overhead Electricity Transmission Lines versus Underground Cables, which was commissioned by the Department in 2008. This independent Study, undertaken by international consultants, Ecofys, concluded that:

The "forced outage rates" for underground transmission cables constitute a "severe limitation" for underground cables. Underground cables do not compare favourably to overhead lines in terms of adequacy of the electricity transmission system and reliability of electricity supply. The consultants state this finding as "the dominating criterion" when comparing overhead and underground technologies;

The capital costs of underground cables could be at least five times the cost of overhead lines;

Magnetic fields directly under transmission lines are generally as low as 10–20% of the maximum levels recommended in the World Health Organisation guidelines.

This Ecofys Study is generic rather than site-specific, while the PB Power report relates specifically to the Meath Cavan and Cavan Tyrone projects.

EirGrid has made clear that consultations will continue with stakeholders over the coming months, as work continues on preparing a planning application to An Bord Pleanála. An Bord Pleanála is the Statutory Planning Authority in relation to all strategic infrastructure projects. As part of its application to An Bord Pleanála, EirGrid will be submitting a full Environmental Impact Statement and a range of reports on its consultation process, including the PB Power report.