UK’s coal-fired electricity ban officially brought forward to 2024

The UK Government first announced plans to move the date from 2025 to 2024 in February 2020 and said, at the time, that the official change to legislation would be made ahead of COP26. At that time, the UN climate summit was still set to take place in autumn 2020. It was subsequently delayed for a year…

Renewables set to save Irish consumers €180m, energy report finds

Carbon emissions from Ireland’s electricity sector could be cut from almost 10 million tonnes annually to under 2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030 and bring a €180 million price reduction for consumers, according to a report by energy specialists Baringa. Their analysis issued on Wednesday also sets out a more long-term pathway to a…

EPA calls for ‘immediate increase’ in pace of emissions reductions

A “significant and immediate increase” in the scale and pace of greenhouse gas emission reductions is required if Ireland is to have any chance of meeting demanding targets in the Climate Bill, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned. The programme for government and the Bill commit to a 51 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030…

North South Interconnector court challenge

Counsel for a group of landowners also claimed the decision to give the go-ahead for the North South Interconnector unlawfully violated Stormont’s Ministerial Code. But government lawyers insisted new legislation meant Infrastructure Minister Minister Nichola Mallon had legal power to authorise the project without taking it to her Executive colleagues. Members of Safe Electricity Armagh…

Power firms warn time is short for green energy plan

They say getting to 70pc renewable electricity by 2030, as currently planned, will need multiple battery-storage installations, the completion of three planned transboundary interconnectors and a strengthened transmission grid. Even with all these components in place, natural gas will remain essential to power supply in 2030 and beyond, albeit on a reduced scale. They also warn…