Taoiseach tells French summit that Ireland aims to become exporter of energy

Ireland’s aim is to become an energy exporter but it remains vulnerable currently because of its dependence on imported fossil fuels, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has declared. Speaking at a French summit of 40 world leaders, Mr Martin said Ireland’s “way out” of dependence on foreign supplies will rely on offshore wind, especially “floating” turbines, green…

Data centres’ electricity consumption has more than doubled since 2015

ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION BY data centres has more than doubled since 2015, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show. Between 2015 and 2020, data centres’ consumption of electricity in Ireland increased by 144%. Additionally, the proportion of Ireland’s total metered electricity used by data centres more than doubled between 2015 and 2020, rising from 5%…

EirGrid planning for decade of growth in electricity demand

Increasing demand and the retirement of older generating stations will likely create electricity supply challenges for the island of Ireland in the coming years, according to this year’s generation capacity statement (GCS). The GCS is published annually by EirGrid and examines the likely balance between electricity demand and supply in the period up to 2030. …

Energy security concerns – Government responds with a new Policy Statement

The challenges facing Ireland’s energy supply can be summarised in four key points:  (1) lower than expected availability from some existing power stations;  (2) anticipated new power stations not being developed as planned;  (3) expected growth in electricity demand, including from data centres; and  (4) expected closure of some power stations in the coming years…

Wind energy: Why is Ireland not fulfilling its potential?

With the conclusion of Cop26 in Glasgow, focus switches to how countries can quickly start delivering on commitments to reduce emissions over the coming decade. A report published earlier this year by a team of energy researchers at University College Cork highlights how Ireland’s ongoing energy transformation – which is necessary to meet our decarbonisation requirements for 2050…

EU ministers debate how to tackle rising energy costs

The wave of price hikes is not set to abate before next spring, and ministers discussed a set of short-term measures that have been put forward by the European Commission to help consumers and businesses weather the shock. The main reason behind the sharp spike is increased global demand for energy, and gas in particular.…