Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 November 2022
9. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will provide a publication date for the McCarthy review into what went wrong in relation to the electricity generation capacity shortfall which the State is now facing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55351/22]
View answerWill the Minister provide a publication date for the McCarthy review into what went wrong regarding the electricity generation capacity shortfall which the State is now facing and make a statement on the matter?
I engaged Mr. Dermot McCarthy, former Secretary General to the Government and the Department of the Taoiseach, to conduct an independent review into the circumstances requiring emergency measures to be introduced to secure electricity supply over the coming winters. Mr. McCarthy's engagement, along with the terms of reference for the review, were noted by Government at its meeting on 14 June 2022.
The review is being conducted under the following terms of reference: to identify factors which have contributed to the capacity shortfall, including the possible role of the growth in demand for data centres and the associated policy; to identify factors which contributed to any underestimation of the risk of capacity shortfall; to identify factors associated with the respective roles and responsibilities which may have contributed to this situation; to identify learning which may be relevant to strengthening policy, capacity, governance and operational effectiveness in this area; and to identify any further technical analysis which may be helpful in this regard. I expect to receive Mr. McCarthy's report before the end of the year.
As it happens, I met him yesterday. He had a very short interim report on his work. Following consideration of the content of the final report I will then consider if it should be published and in what form. I have confidence in him and his ability. He has been at the centre of the public service for many years and that makes him uniquely qualified to assist us in this regard.
Following the Minister's conversation yesterday, will be a specific focus on a review of the T-4 option. There has been considerable discussion on this. Some 500 MW were not delivered, 400 MW of which related to the ESB. Will that be included in the review? Is it not entirely clear from the terms of reference whether that will be the case?
On a related matter, I ask the Minister for an update on emergency generation. We had the turf and EirGrid Bills and a recent piece on planning exemptions. Is that progressing apace? In a committee I raised with the Minister the capacity that is due to come on stream in the middle of next year. There was a question mark over the deliverability of that, given inflation etc. Can the Minister provide assurances on that?
I thank the Deputy. As I said, the first of the terms of reference related to the factors which contributed to the capacity shortfall and that directly relate to the auction to which the Deputy referred. In 2019, 500 MW of power was not delivered. That is the first item on the terms of reference, in terms of what factors contributed to that.
With regard to emergency generation, I want to thank the Deputy's party and other Members of the House for their overwhelming support for emergency legislation, unwelcome as it was. No one wanted to do it but I very much appreciate the support which has helped us to move to the next phase. I understand the contracting of generators from the OEM operator has been completed. I happened to visit Tarbert in County Kerry last Friday. I visited the sites in Shannonbridge and Tarbert and spoke to the engineers there. It seems that everything is ready to go. I cannot recall the timelines, but progress is imminent. Clearing of the land depends on planning approvals and so on. The two projects are on track.
With regard to more recent auctions, there are key issues. The CRU is out in public consultation on the issue the Deputy referred to with regard to the impact of inflation. Consultation closed on 26 October and I expect the information will come out relatively quickly. There are ongoing issues with grid connections and our planning system.
I presume public consultation will not help those projects that are currently in the system and are due to deliver in the middle of next year. I ask the Minister to give us some assurance on that and what type of intervention might be needed to move that on.
One of the issues Mr. McCarthy is dealing with is data centres. I understand that a number of weeks ago the Minister wrote to Gas Networks Ireland, GNI, and asked it not to enter into any more contracts with gas dependent data centres. There was a question mark over whether legislation would be needed to give effect to that decision. Can the Minister provide an update on that situation? Is legislation needed? Will the Minister bring it forward?
On the first issue, it is complex and the regulator will have to decide on it. I understand it applies to T-3 and T-4 auctions which are in train at this moment in time. My expectation, depending on what the CRU comes out with in its final decision, is that it is not precluded that the terms and conditions for the ongoing existing options would be updated or amended according to the decision. It has to make the best call on that situation. As I said, the biggest problem with the other two areas of difficulty are with regard to the planning system. The Attorney General is working to revise the Planning Act 2000. That will be critical because I understand it will help to reduce the incredible length of time that projects are caught in judicial review or other lengthy delays in the planning system.
With regard to the role of data centres, I wrote to GNI. I think it was appropriate and responsible to do so as Minister at a time when we have to reduce our use of gas to make sure that we are not developing any further connections and there was absolute clarity in that regard. Given the energy security framework we are in, we cannot continue to see the expansion of gas. I wrote, on a precautionary basis, to make sure-----
Do we need legislation?
I do not believe we do. I had a meeting with GNI and do not recall the need for legislation being raised.
