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ENERGY MINISTER DARRAGH O’Brien is expected to seek Government approval to create a State-led “strategic gas emergency reserve”.
It’s understood that the proposal could be brought to Cabinet later this morning.
In a written answer in the Dáil last week, O’Brien said this strategic gas emergency reserve would operate on a non-commercial basis and for use only in the event of an emergency.
He added that this would “provide resilience to the gas system and mitigate against the major consequences for our society and our economy that would arise from a significant gas supply disruption in Ireland”.
O’Brien said he had requested that his officials finalise their work “as a matter of priority so that I am in a position to bring forward a recommendation to the Government in the near future on the optimal approach to ensure and protect Ireland’s energy security”.
In his written answer to the Dáil last week, O’Brien said that the Energy Security in Ireland to 2030 report “concluded that Ireland does not have adequate resilience in case of a major disruption to our sub-sea gas import pipelines and does not currently meet minimum EU standards in this area”.
The report stated that the strategic gas emergency reserve would be needed on a “transitional basis to address security needs in the medium-term” and that it would be a “potential back-up for renewable energy”.
O’Brien further remarked that the report recommended that the state-led Strategic Gas Emergency Reserve take the “form of a Floating Storage and Regassification Unit (FSRU)”.
FSRUs are ships that can store and convert liquefied natural gas (LNG) into natural gas.
A government source last night said that the delivery of a temporary gas reserve is critical to Ireland’s energy security as the country transitions to clean renewable energy.
While not as heavy a polluter as oil or coal, gas is a fossil fuel that contributes to pushing global temperatures upwards.
The source added that the emergency reserve will provide an alternative source of gas at an appropriate scale if Ireland was to experience interruption to gas supplies via subsea interconnection, and that it will only be used in the case of a disruption to gas supplies.
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Only about 3 years later than most others nations. With a bit of luck it’s up and running in another 10 years.
@Dereck: yes very late in the day. Practically waiting for the start of word war three, too late fatso.
@Basildon Joe: What is it either you and the constant personal insults? You really are a sad broken person
@Dereck: Whatever happened to all his housing plans
@Jp Cleary: they were a priority too and look how that turned out. The reports and feasibility studies will add more years to the delay followed by the usual no state experience yada yada and a deal struck with a commercial company to run the reserve despite assurances.
@FoxyBoiiYT: that is as much as you will get out of someone from Essex
We need to try to tap into some of the possible reserves off the west coast. I’d consider myself quite green in my politics, but realistically as long as we are burning fossil fuel we should be looking to exploit native reserves instead of being so dependent on imported fossil fuel.
@Shay Mo: The Irish EEZ and territorial waters are unlikely to contain significant reserves of gas or oil. Various companies have been exploring the waters for decades and, bar finding a few pockets, have not found much out there – at least that is economically viable to extract. It is also not the case that if the State were to subsidise exploration we would suddenly make it viable – the State’s take from gas fields in terms of royalties/tax was so low, it acted as an effective subsidy.
We are beholden to a MOU between us and Britain that the gas being piped through Scotland and Northern Ireland (from Norway’s gas fields) will not be shut off. Short term, this is fine. Long term it leaves us exposed.
Our best option is to be self sufficient through the development – at scale – or renewables, in particular wind. We can’t be cut off from our own supply. It can’t can’t be diverted to someone paying a higher price. We will still need gas for the ‘peaker’ plants (quick firing, small gas plants that will act as back up when demand is high), but ever decreasing amounts.
The second best option is nuclear. But if we wait for that to become palatable in Ireland – politically or socially – then we are truly doomed.
@stu nolan: is it not the case that we are not developing the wind option, it’s being developed by private companies who WILL sell it to the highest bidder every time, also is wind energy price not linked to energy produced by other means, making it no cheaper anyway.
@Eddie Garvey: The export of energy from Ireland can only be done through interconnector cables or through a manufacturing process (using the energy to create a product that is then exported). There is a 3rd option: use excess RE to create hydrogen that can be turned into products such as fertiliser or sustainable aviation fuels, or stored for use in electricity generation. Again, very difficult to export.
Of course the wind farms (and solar) are being developed by private companies as that is who develops energy projects in almost every country in the world.
To get planning to develop an energy project, the developer must show they have a received a grid connection. If they don’t have one then they must have an agreement directly with a LEU. In bidding for the right to get a license, the developer commits to a price for the energy they will generate. If the wholesale price of energy drops below that number, then the state will pay the difference to the energy producer. If the price is above that number then the energy producer will pay the state the difference.
Wholesale energy prices are guided by the most expensive fuel type in the mix. For the last few years, gas was the most expensive and so it pulled up the price of energy. I believe there are moves at an EU level to decouple the price of renewable energy from dirty energy (gas, coal, etc.) though not sure where that is at.
Ultimately, making energy cheaper is less important than making energy secure. So long as we are beholden to other countries for the supply of our energy we are always vulnerable to energy shocks, price hikes, or bad faith actors. Energy independence is key, pricing is secondary (as a nation, obviously pricing is very important at a personal/household level).
@stu nolan: I should have said, that for the fuel mix, even if the expensive fuel is only a small % of the total input fuel used, it still dictates the wholesale price for output energy.
The penny is about to drop – green energy policy is actually national self-sabotage. Just ask the Germans, or the British.
@Gerry Kelly: Sorry there…
Wind to Ireland is like Oil is to Saudis…
It is plentiful and pretty consistent…
What we need is a method to store energy… In Spirt for Ireland it could store 24 hrs of Electric power with 5km2(1300 acres) lake and rock dam pumping up water and letting it down…
We presently dump about 30% – $0% of our Wind Power…
Largest proven gas and oilfield in Europe is barryroe off the cork coast.Eamon Ryan delayed it and they eventually ran out of money and Larry Goodman bought it.Every country in the world would love to have this asset and would develop it for the good of the irish people. The middle east America Russia and Norway and to many other countries to name have developed and continue to benefit from their mineral resources we in Ireland are lead by idiots who would prefer to buy it and pretend they care for the planet. What about the carbon footprint
At the speed events are moving far too little too late.
It’s time the global climate target makers got real and stop trying to gouge money from people and countries. And our government need to stand up for people of this country and push back. Renewable energy is nowhere near where it should be and it won’t be for decades to come if at all. 26 billion in penalties is a joke. The reality is we should not be dependent on one source of energy, especially now when we’re not even ready it’s not even practical..
@Jack: and the Irish media writing headlines like that as if Ireland is key to meeting climate targets we are just a dot in terms of impact and we’re probably the most progressive In terms of people doing their part we should not be made feel like we’re not doing enough. Especially when there are much larger offenders that are doing nothing for the environment.
Does this mean much needed jobs for the North Kerry area.
What does state led mean? Is it more taxpayers money for the golden circle? Has this clown not done enough damage in housing.
Here’s an idea, wind and tidal energy, something we have every day off the west coast.
There’s a 50/50 chance there’s more gas beside the corrib field. Won’t cost the taxpayer a cent. And could be up and running in two years.
Ireland has gas reserves in the ground and offshore so why are we not developing them to make sure we have energy security, that’s the question to be asked I say.
“State-led”
Who’s going to believe that coming from FFG? There’s no such thing as ‘state-led’ anymore. Everything, incl. housing, health and the other sectors we can’t manage anymore has been sold off to for-profit entities as the EU demanded.
Barryroe is the way to go.
Government plans sucking up to Trump promising to buy US fracked gas. There, fixed it for you.
@john o Connor. The corrib field cost the tax payer millions!
This is another victory for the lobbyists!
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