Minister Naughten called on to set target to supply 70% of electricity from renewables by 2030

Speakers: Dr John FitzGerald (Climate Change Advisory Council), Des O’Toole (IrBEA President), Marie Donnelly (Former Directorate General for Energy), Michael McCarthy (CEO of ISEA), Dr David Connolly (CEO of IWEA)

Eight organisations representing renewable energy in Ireland united today to call on Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten TD to set a target to supply 70 per cent of electricity from renewables by 2030.

These 8 organisations are as follows:

• Irish Wind Energy Association
• Irish Solar Energy Association
• Irish Bioenergy Association
• Irish Wind Farmers Association
• Host in Ireland
• Irish Energy Storage Association
• Marine Renewables Industry Association
• Smart Grid Ireland

In June 2018 the European Union agreed that 32 per cent of the EU’s energy – across electricity, heat and transport – will come from renewables by 2030. Ireland’s share of that target will be negotiated with the EU in the coming months.

A comprehensive report from leading energy and utilities experts Baringa may be downloaded here. It says it is technically possible and cost neutral to the consumer for Ireland to use renewable energy to supply 70 per cent of our electricity by 2030, which would go a long way towards reaching the EU target. A summary of the report can be found here.

It follows confirmation from the Climate Change Advisory Council in July that Ireland will miss its overall 2020 target for renewable energy, warnings from the Environmental Protection Agency highlighting the failure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and comes as the International Panel on Climate Change meets in Korea.

In September the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action began meeting to respond to the calls from the Citizens’ Assembly earlier this year for Ireland to become a leader in tackling climate change. Currently, approximately 30 per cent of Irish electricity comes from renewables and while Ireland will fall short of its overall 2020 target it is expected to still reach its 40 per cent electricity target.

In June 2018 the EU agreed to increase the share of renewables in energy to 32 per cent by 2030 and in December the Irish Government will publish its draft National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP). This plan will set out Ireland’s 2030 renewable energy target and likely will, like the 2020 target, be broken down across the electricity, heat and transport sectors. It is expected that Ireland will be one of two EU countries to miss our 2020 target of 16 per cent renewable energy although our target of 40 per cent renewable electricity is still achievable.

A copy of the Baringa study is available here.

A summary of the report can be found here.

Resource Assessment Toolkit for Wind Energy

The Toolkit outlines best practice techniques for assessing wind resource potentials as a foundation for a wind resource assessment. The wind resource assessment entails industry-accepted guidelines for planning and conducting a wind resource measurement program to support a wind energy feasibility initiative. These guidelines do not embody every single potential technique of conducting a quality wind measurement program, but they address the most essential elements based on field-proven experience.

The scope of the Toolkit covers:

• Wind resource assessment 101
• Sitting of monitoring systems
• Measurement parameters and monitoring instruments
• Installation of monitoring stations
• Site operation and maintenance
• Data collection and management
• Data validation
• Data processing
• Comparison of observed wind data with historical norm
• Wind flow modelling

The first wind turbines for electricity generation were developed at the beginning of the 20th century. Thus, wind technology is one of the most mature and proven technologies on the market. In 2015, the wind energy industry installed 12.8 GW in the EU – more than gas and coal combined. Globally, the current wind power installation capacity has reached 435GW with a significant growth rate of 16.4% in 2014 and 17.2% in 2015.

Wind turbines offer the prospects of cost efficient generation of electricity and fast return on investment. The economic feasibility of wind turbines depends primarily on the wind speed. Usually, the greater the long term annual average wind speed, the more electricity will be generated and the faster the investment will pay back. However, it is important to access the wind power potential (WPP) at any prospective location to decide the capacity of wind resource for electricity generation within available time limits of wind duration. Hence, it is relevant to observe the wind characteristics and type of wind turbine technology suitable for any given promising location. These factors are very much helpful for wind power developers and investors to make a decision with respect to the economic constraints.

Details of the Resource Assessment Toolkit for Wind Energy may be downloaded here:

http://grebeproject.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/GREBE-Resource-Assessment-Toolkit-for-Wind-Energy-July-2018-1.pdf