Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 October 2022
200. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the way that he intends to support the eight new Ireland gas-fired power plants with natural gas supplies from Ireland to protect us depending on imports, via Scotland or the European network which is already under pressure. [51548/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraIreland sources roughly one-quarter of its gas from the Corrib gas field, and three-quarters via an interconnector from the UK, which has diverse sources of supply. Both the UK and Ireland both have far less reliance on Russian gas than other European Countries. The UK’s gas supply comes from indigenous supplies, via pipelines from Norway, interconnectors with Belgium and the Netherlands and through imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). As production from the Corrib gas field declines, our import dependence on natural gas from the UK will increase in the near term.
In light of the Ukraine crisis, the European Commission is working closely with Member States to protect the resilience of Europe’s gas supply. The Commission is also actively engaging with other countries to ensure sufficient and timely supply of natural gas to the EU from diverse sources across the globe to avoid supply shocks, including those that could result from disruptions.
The Programme for Government contains a commitment to end the issuing of new licences for the exploration and extraction of gas on the same basis as the decision taken in 2019 by the previous Government in relation to oil exploration and extraction. This commitment was made effective immediately upon the current Government taking office, and was placed on a statutory footing on commencement of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021.
Holders of existing authorisations are not affected by these changes, and may apply to progress their authorisations through the licensing stages towards a natural conclusion – which may include expiry, relinquishment or production. This means that a future commercial discovery in an existing authorisation could potentially reach production. Any applications for follow-on authorisations or applications to conduct petroleum activities in the Irish offshore under an authorisation require Ministerial consent, and are required to meet environmental, technical and financial standards as appropriate. If no further gas and oil is discovered in line with the above process, it could be assumed, given the decline of Corrib, that indigenous gas production will be relatively small post 2030.
In September, my Department launched a public consultation on the medium to long-term security of our electricity and gas systems. This review is considering the risks to both natural gas and electricity supplies and is examining a range of measures (including the need for additional capacity to import energy, energy storage, fuel diversification and renewable gases – such as hydrogen). The public consultation, which is open until the 28 October 2022, will help inform the review and the outcome of the review will be brought to Government for its consideration.
It is essential that we cut our dependence on imported fossil fuels, and power comes from our own indigenous renewable resources including wind and solar. Climate Action Plan 2021 sets an ambitious target to increase the share of electricity demand generated from renewable sources to up to 80% by 2030.
