JOINT COMMITTEE ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY SECURITY debate -
Wednesday, 24 Jun 2009

Business of Joint Committee.

Chairman

The minutes of the meeting of 10 June have been circulated. Are they agreed? Agreed.

The first item of correspondence is an update from EirGrid on the progress being made with renewable energy connections to the national grid. We might invite the Minister to attend a meeting of the joint committee to discuss the upgrading of the grid and the timeframe involved. As I have said privately, we are getting a grant of €100 million to help to pay for the interconnector, but there is no point in having an interconnector if we do not have a grid that is capable of exporting our energy. We need to ensure that our grid is capable of adapting to the progress we are making as we develop onshore wind and offshore wind and wave facilities. This matter has been discussed since the joint committee was established more than 18 months ago. Does the committee agree that it is time to write to the Minister to ask him to update us on this matter?

Senator Joe O’Toole

On the same issue, the Chairman will recall that when we met representatives of Mayo County Council, they gave us details of three proposals — the establishment of a 500 MW wind energy farm at Bellacorick, the full development of a wave energy programme in the county and the commencement of a tidal energy scheme. Although the local authority had a clear understanding of how the projects would operate and fit into the national grid, it encountered a number of legal difficulties. We were told that the Foreshore Act 1933 is one of the laws that needs to be amended. We gave the delegation from Mayo County Council an undertaking that we would raise these matters formally. At the meeting in question, I calculated that the council's proposal to develop a couple of acres at Bellacorick would meet one tenth of this country's total peak time energy requirements. The people who addressed us on that occasion are struggling against the establishment, including the Oireachtas. This is an example of the kind of matter the committee has been raising. I do not know why we cannot unblock these issues.

I refer to another topic in this context. While it is not strictly our business, it is worth mentioning. I refer to the discovery of a conduit on the gas pipeline from Dublin to north Mayo that could carry fibre optic cable. However, the law of the land prohibits carrying such cable within the pipeline. A minor change in the law would allow that to be done, thereby facilitating the roll-out of broadband in the west. It is unreal that such non-cost issues are not being dealt with. I would like all of these issues to be raised with the Minister.

Chairman

We have a meeting on 8 July with officials from Mayo County Council.

According to EirGrid the amount of wind generated energy connected to the national grid has reached 1,777 MW. Wind farms produce enough electricity to supply approximately 700,000 homes. That is before we have developed offshore wind farms. It is time it was realised that this is substantial. Ireland could be a net exporter of energy in the not-too-distant future. We must ensure the resources are properly developed.

The Joint Committee on European Scrutiny has forwarded a proposed EU directive on the energy performance of buildings. It is for information purposes and I propose Mr. David Taylor does a note on it for the next meeting.

The Irish Wind Energy Association has forwarded its recent report. Mr. Taylor has undertaken to compile a note on it. I hope to invite the association to a meeting in the near future.

The committee will have an informal meeting next Tuesday at 11.30 a.m. with Patsy McGlone, MLA, and Cathal Boylan, MLA, the chairman and deputy chairman of the Northern Ireland Assembly's Committee for the Environment. They wish to discuss with the committee how it is dealing with climate change.