I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing a debate such as this that will be of keen interest to many people around the country, not just for environmental reasons, in the vital role wind power will play in the reduction of our CO2 emissions, but also in the development of an industry that should have enormous potential for Ireland, which we are totally failing to develop.
Some people in the industry lay a lot of the blame at the door of the ESB which, they say, has been reluctant and even restrictive in the development of wind energy over the years. I found this hard to believe given that the ESB is a forward-thinking company. Yet, one has to believe that the conservative approach it has taken, especially the network company, in the development of wind energy bears out those criticisms. Some people have even described Eirgrid as comparable to the supermodels of the renewable energy industry in that they would not get out of bed for less than €10,000 if one wanted a grid connection. Now we see that they do not want to issue another grid connection, as they fear that the grid will not be able to take it.
The question we must ask them, and hope the Minister for Communications Marine and Natural Resources will ask them, is why they differ so much from the contents of the Garrad Hassan report which clearly states that while there may be a need for curtailment of wind farms as they increase generation, that only becomes a significant issue approaching the level of 2,000 MW of power being supplied. Also, on the ability of renewable wind energy to meet the grid code requirements the ESB would naturally want to set for any operators selling into their grid, the report's executive summary states quite clearly that these can be met by renewable speed turbine technology without any significant cost. The real question that should be put to the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources is why that grid code, which seems to be the key issue, was not agreed years ago. At the very last minute, operators who have gone to enormous expense to obtain planning permission to establish the projects are told out of the blue that there are no further grid connections. The ESB, in its letter to the regulator on the issue, makes the remarkable statement that it thought everything was going wonderfully when Irish wind production was increasing by a nice 20 MW a year. That is an incredible statement when other countries, like Germany and others, have something like 15,000 MW of power and none of the wind power potential we have.
Why has the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources not compiled a co-ordinated energy policy on this issue? It was remarkable that at the same time the regulator was issuing his press release stating there could be no further wind contracts, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources issued a press release trumpeting the budget contents that would allow for further tax breaks on more projects, adding that he hoped to obtain an additional 140 MW from the European Commission. It demonstrates a remarkable lack of co-ordination, on the Minister's part, that he apparently did not know what the regulator was going to say on the matter or what the ESB felt, let alone what is happening in the industry.
The most important question for the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, further to the question I tabled, is why, like so many other Ministers, he has failed to implement a European directive on renewable energy sources, that this country was obliged to enforce by 27 October? The directive specifically sets out the requirement on the Government, the industry, the regulator and the network operator to guarantee that we will develop the maximum potential renewable energy that we can.
We have enormous potential in this country for renewable energy. I was at a conference organised by the European Investment Bank in Dublin, attended by all the leading people in the industry throughout Europe. One speaker after another said how remarkable it was that this country, with the greatest wind potential in Europe, was the slowest and worst at developing its wind industry. This was embarrassing and frightening in the context of the environmental and future economic consequence consequences of our failure. I, industry representatives and other Opposition spokespersons will be increasingly asking the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources what he is doing, why he sat back and did nothing on this issue and why the Government has allowed us to be seen as the laughing stock of Europe in the field of developing renewable energy.
