Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Question 322: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on whether the national grid will not suffer the same fate as the European grid, many multiples the size of the Ireland island grid and already having serious difficulty incorporating a far lower penetration of renewable electricity than Ireland. [28900/11]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The deployment of renewable generation in the electricity sector has increased considerably in recent years. In Ireland, we now have enough installed renewable generation to meet 15% of electricity demand and, at particular time intervals, renewables have produced enough power to meet 50% of system demand. As percentage of system size, this level of renewable penetration places Ireland at the forefront of Europe.

To ensure the delivery of an electricity network that has the operational capability and infrastructural capacity to fully exploit the country's substantial renewable energy potential in a secure and efficient manner, EirGrid, through Grid 25, and the recently launched Programme for a Secure, Sustainable Electricity System (DS3) is putting in place the necessary infrastructural and operational requirements to manage high levels of variable renewable generation on the power system in a safe, secure and reliable manner.

EirGrid is also actively engaged in the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) where knowledge and best practice for integrating renewable generation and building a robust grid for the future is shared among its members. The European-wide electricity grid has yet to experience the sort of operational challenges that Ireland is dealing with today, primarily due to its size and high levels of interconnection. However, it is widely acknowledged, that significant new and upgraded electricity infrastructure will be required across Europe in order to reach the EU-wide 2020 renewable target.