Latest news with #BrianKeville
Irish Examiner
29-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Energy independence: A prize worth fighting for
Extensive mapping has found that Ireland can generate at least a further 6,000 MW of wind energy, in addition to what is already built or in the planning system. Onshore wind energy is already our most affordable source of new electricity. It is clean, it is secure, it creates jobs at home and it supports communities in rural Ireland. Irish wind farms provide more than a third of the country's electricity and have saved consumers nearly €840 million since 2000, around €320 per person since the start of the decade. Without them we would spend more than €1 billion a year on gas, almost all of it imported, for electricity generation. While momentum continues to build behind offshore wind energy it is our onshore wind farms on which we must rely in our efforts to meet our 2030 targets and which will continue to provide the bulk of our renewable power until well into the next decade. Build faster We need to build more, faster, and more affordably or face billions in fines identified by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and the Climate Change Advisory Council. A new report from Galway-based planning consultancy MKO, Protecting Consumers: Our onshore wind energy opportunity, contains a detailed analysis of the potential for more onshore wind energy in Ireland, and shows us that we can do just that. We have just over 5,000 MW of wind energy connected to the electricity grid. Another four thousand have secured, or applied for, planning permission which could get us close to our existing 9,000 MW target. MKO's detailed and painstaking analysis maps every single household and business in Ireland, identifies every environmentally protected area, every river, lake and stream, develops a coherent national approach on landscape and identifies the total space left in Ireland for onshore wind energy development. Out of this area — roughly 1,302 square kilometres or less than 2 per cent of the country – the authors estimate, conservatively, that at least another 6,000 MW of onshore wind energy could be produced beyond the current 9,000 MW target. 'Ireland has significant additional potential to harness our indigenous onshore wind energy resource,' said Brian Keville, Managing Director of MKO Ireland and lead author of the report. 'This analysis clearly demonstrates that a significant amount of onshore wind energy can be delivered in just two per cent of the country's land mass, while taking account of planning and environmental constraints and design requirements.' Challenges There are still challenges. Some of the most suitable locations identified are in areas with a weak electricity grid network. That is why investing in upgrading our grid is so important, to get affordable, clean, energy from where it is produced to where it is needed. Other locations might be difficult to develop at the right cost. That is why the renewable energy industry, has been calling — for five years — for a cross-departmental and independently chaired task-force to identify how we can lower prices. They may be big challenges, but the prize is big too — energy independence. 'There is no doubt that Ireland is a wind energy success story, particularly in onshore wind,' the Taoiseach recently told the Dáil. 'but because of a lot of controversy around locations in certain aspects that narrative does not often get told. 'We get a greater share of our electricity, 35% on average, from onshore wind farms than anywhere else in Europe. We are world leaders in integrating renewables onto our grid, which can now take up to 75% of total electricity demand from wind farms. 'Last January, a significant milestone was achieved when the State reached more than 5 GW of installed wind capacity. That is half-way to the State's 2030 onshore climate action target.' Stand up for consumers It is time now to stand up for Irish electricity consumers and onshore wind energy is Ireland's most affordable source of new electricity. The more wind energy that we can develop, the less we rely on imported fossils fuels, and the better protected Irish families and businesses are from a volatile fossil fuel market. Every month we see wind energy reducing electricity costs. Tripling our onshore wind capacity, which is possible by delivering our existing pipeline and developing the land identified by MKO, would drive these costs down even further. We simply cannot build a strong, resilient, low-carbon economy if we are relying on imported expensive fossil fuels. Our future must be our own, one built on a foundation provided by the clean, affordable and secure energy that only the renewable energy industry can provide. Ireland's onshore wind farms, supported by new offshore wind projects, solar, storage and a new generation of advanced interconnectors, will secure the future of a prosperous, competitive, country in which our families and our businesses can thrive. That's a prize worth fighting for.
Irish Independent
28-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Wind power map shows just 2pc of land could increase green electricity by 200pc
Industry body Wind Energy Ireland (WEI) says it has identified all the potential sites and it wants the Government to refocus efforts on developing them. The group hired planning consultants MKO to carry out the exercise. MKO said the sites do not impinge on protected habitats or buffer zones around homes, national parks or key infrastructure. Managing director of MKO Ireland, Brian Keville, said its findings showed Ireland had significant potential to make much more of its onshore wind power. 'This analysis clearly demonstrates that a significant amount of onshore wind energy can be delivered in just 2pc of the country's land mass, while taking account of planning and environmental constraints and design requirements,' he said. Ireland currently has just over five gigawatts (GW) of electricity generation capacity from onshore windfarms. Under the Climate Action Plan, the target is to increase that to 9GW by 2030. There are multiple windfarm projects in planning and construction that will help bring that target within reach. WEI and MKO said, however, there is scope to add another 6GW on a phased basis, to bring the total to 15GW. WEI chief executive Noel Cunniffe said the Government should reset its targets and aim for a total of 11GW by 2035 and 15GW by 2040. ADVERTISEMENT 'The more wind energy that we can develop, the less we rely on imported fossil fuels, and the better protected Irish families and businesses are from a volatile fossil fuel market,' he said. 'Every month we see wind energy reducing electricity costs. 'Tripling our onshore wind capacity, which is possible by delivering our existing pipeline and developing the land identified in this research, would drive these costs down even further.' The report comes a week after government advisory body the National Economic and Social Council issued a highly critical analysis of the State's renewable energy strategy, which is heavily focused on developing offshore wind. Offshore wind projects have potential to deliver very large volumes of electricity but the first six proposed developments only entered the planning system in the last year and already the developers of one have indicated they will not be proceeding with it. None of the others are expected to have planning determined and construction completed before 2030. Onshore wind projects have also hit barriers, with half refused planning permission last year. Revised windfarm development guidelines, updated to take account of the growing size of turbines and new noise-level limits, were promised a decade ago but have not yet been published. MKO's mapping exercise identified 1,302 square kilometres of land on which enough new windfarms could be built to generate 6GW extra electricity while maintaining a 700-metre buffer zone from properties – more than the 500m proposed when the revision of guidelines began. 'As a result of this approach, all settlements, villages, towns and cities are constrained out [excluded],' the report says.
