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On 26 September 2019, EirGrid launched its 2020-2025 Strategy in response to the Irish
Government's 2019 Climate Action Plan.
The Climate Action Plan aims to transform our economy and
society towards climate resilience and sustainability. This burden
falls disproportionately on the electricity sector. The Plan sets
an objective of increasing reliance on renewables from 30% to 70%,
adding 12GW of new renewable energy capacity by 2030, coupled with
the electrification of traditionally carbon intensive sectors such
a transport, heating and cooling.
The scale of this challenge should not be underestimated. Not
only will Ireland require very significant investment in
infrastructure and system services in a relatively short period to
support 12GW of additional renewables, Ireland must fundamentally
rethink the way it approaches system development. A traditional
model of developing the grid in response to connection applications
will need to give way to a more visionary approach of proactively
planning and developing the 2030 grid so it is ready for developers
as they bring their projects to market. It is for this reason that
EirGrid's Strategy has been so eagerly awaited.
Consistent with the Climate Action Plan, EirGrid's Strategy
is underpinned by the purpose of transforming the electricity
system for future generations. In pursuit of this purpose,
EirGrid's primary goal is to lead the island's electricity
sector on sustainability and decarbonisation. EirGrid's
strategy acknowledges the need to connect up to 10GW of additional
renewable generation to a system which is capable of supporting up
to 95% renewable electricity at any one time. This transformation
of the electricity sector is underpinned by three supportive
goals:
Operate, develop and enhance
the all-island grid and market: EirGrid's strategy
restates their commitment of reliability to consumers and
large-scale customers, such as data centres. In achieving this aim,
EirGrid's goal is to ensure that the grid remains strong,
flexible, increasingly enabled with technology, and to keep the
wholesale market efficient and effective.
This goal includes continued work to ensure that grid
infrastructure is prepared to take more renewables by optimising
existing assets and developing new infrastructure.
Work with partners for
positive change: In transitioning to a sustainable,
low-carbon future, EirGrid's strategy emphasises the
maintenance of collaborative programmes with partners who own and
operate grid transmission (ESB Networks and NIE Networks), or
customers that generate or use large amounts of power, as well as
investing in new partnerships with global players who can
facilitate the energy system transformation.
Engage for better outcomes
for all: Notwithstanding the advances in technology which
will allow less intrusive ways of transferring power, all of
Ireland's electricity grids depend on large-scale
infrastructure. EirGrid aim to deepen and broaden their
consultation and ability to respond in meaningful ways to fears and
concerns of landowners and communities to accept new
infrastructure. Further, EirGrid aim to invest time and resources
in a strategic and transparent way "to collaborate with
regulators to agree how best to manage the energy transition in
response to the challenge of climate change."
While EirGrid's Strategy is a critical step on the path to
achieving Ireland's 2030 climate goals, it is only part of the
solution. For EirGrid to achieve these objectives, the same level
of vision and ambition will be required from policy makers and
regulators to approve the required strategic technological and
infrastructural investments required by EirGrid. We eagerly await
the next stage of implementation of this Strategy to create the
necessary foundations for Ireland's 2030 climate targets.
This article contains a general summary of developments and
is not a complete or definitive statement of the law. Specific
legal advice should be obtained where appropriate.
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