Ireland behind schedule to meet our 2030 low emissions target.

Ireland behind schedule to meet our 2030 low emissions target.

The Government’s climate advisers have warned more solar usage and farms must be built urgently to meet the need for clean electricity.

In a critical review published today, the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) says no new planning permissions for renewable projects were granted for 12 months up to last September.
While electricity generation from renewable sources increased slightly last year, the CCAC says, it remains “significantly below the annual increase needed to meet growing demand and simultaneously satisfy 2030 targets for emission reductions”.
The CCAC is calling for new regulations to fast-track planning permission for onshore turbines and solar arrays.

The electricity sector is the third largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland, after agriculture and transport.
Its emissions come chiefly from ­fossil fuel-fired generating stations, one waste-to-energy facility, one natural gas production platform and one natural gas refinery.

“The expansion in renewable electricity generation capacity is significantly outpaced by the growth in electricity demand, largely driven by data centres.
“It will be increasingly difficult to remain within the carbon budgets [emissions restrictions] if data centres continue to be connected before the country has the renewable capacity to accommodate them.”
Some data centres are seeking gas connections in order to generate their own electricity on site but while this would ease the demand for electricity from the national grid, it increases emissions.
The CCAC calls for Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) to be directed not to connect up any more data centres but it acknowledges that the law setting up GNI requires it to provide connections on request.
“The Government should immediately align the legal mandate for all public bodies to have regard to the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, particularly those operating in the energy sphere, such as the CRU, EirGrid, ESB Networks and Gas Networks Ireland,” it said.
CCAC chairwoman Marie Donnelly said the review was a stark reminder of the critical actions needed to ensure that the electricity sector reduced its emissions while catering for a growing demand.

Peak-time surges in demand mean all available generators are brought into full production, including Moneypoint and the oil-fired plants which are the most polluting.
While 1.6 million households have smart meters but the CCAC says just 330,000 are making use of them to switch to smart tariffs that incentivise off-peak use.
The take-up rate must be increased, it says.
Similarly, large energy-using businesses must be better incentivised to shift power usage to off-peak periods.