Godfrey Timmins
Question:34 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Energy if any of the electricity going into the national grid is being generated from wave-power; and if not, if there are any proposals to do so.
Written Answers. - Generating Processes.
None of the electricity presently being supplied to the national grid network is derived from wave power and there are no proposals to generate electricity from this source.
Compared to other renewable energy sources such as hydro and wind power, developments in wave power technology are much less advanced and a lot more research is required in order to improve reliability and reduce costs. My Department will continue to monitor developments in this area.
Austin Deasy
Question:35 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Energy the percentage of electricity in this State which is being generated from wind-power; the ultimate objective in this regard and the way in which the cost of such generation compares with other sources.
While the percentage of electricity generated at present by wind power is insignificant, the wind farm development at Bellacorick, County Mayo currently under construction is expected to add approximately 17 Gigawatt-hours per annum to electricity supplies when it is completed later this year.
As the Deputy is aware, this will be Ireland's first wind farm and the development of further prospects in this area will be determined by a variety of factors including the technical and financial performance of this project and developments which would reduce current high windfarm construction costs.
The ESB has indicated that, in the Irish context the cost of generating electricity from wind power is approximately three times that of electricity generation using conventional methods. Presumably this cost differential will decrease with time due to a combination of maturing wind power technology and anticipated rising conventional costs as environmental constraints take effect.