Project Greenwire and a European Supergrid

Funk It

I apologise if this is the wrong place to post this, but I thought that it was interesting and relevant to this forum.

Following on from the thread a while ago regarding the Irish renewable energy strategy, I have been trying to keep an eye on the renewable projects coming into Ireland. Below I have highlighted Project Greenwire and what maybe ultimately a European Supergrid which is designed to export otherwise surplus and unused energy from intermittent renewable technologies.


Project Greenwire
I spotted an article on the DECC website many months ago with Irish and UK ministers and representatives regarding this, so I did a bit of digging but still have many questions (I even wrote to Energy Minister Pat Rabitte, but not really expecting a reply, and especially not while they are on holiday).

Not a whole lot is currently known about this asides from rough figures and a few vague details. First off, I want to say that the employment which this 3 GW project will create in Ireland will be great as there are many aspects (construction, ongoing management/maintenance and all other associated opportunities). But I suppose my underlining question is regarding to the energy trading commodity which will stem from system and generator ownership. In short, it mentions Irish exports, but the pessimist in me suspects that there is more to it than meets the eye. I do see that it claims the following:

"This is firm capacity, meaning that the UK power market can take all the output and will enable €1.2billion worth of energy exports annually from the Irish economy."

http://greenwire.ie/greenwire-project/

Another link for anyone who is interested:
http://www.elpower.com/element-power-accepts-first-grid-connection-uk-ireland


European Supergrid
I spotted this article earlier today, and it left me with more of the same questions. A European Supergrid would put Irish renewable exports in a great position, and more investment would inevitably follow for both onshore and offshore technologies.

Below I have included the main section of Irish interest in the article:

"To fully take advantage of the supergrid, countries have started to call on each other to ramp up renewables production. For example, representatives from the UK are urging Ireland to build wind farms on its west coast so they can build an interconnector and take advantage of its huge resources.

‘The west coast of Ireland has some of the fiercest winds in Europe,’ said Charles Hendry, UK energy minister, to the Guardian. ‘They whip in off the Atlantic which makes it an ideal location for wind farms. However, the Irish market for electricity is less than a tenth of that of Britain. That means that companies cannot afford to build wind farms in Ireland because there is no market for their power. We want to put that right.’"

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/the-deal-european-supergrid-sets-high-expectations


I want to say that these would be great projects, but with the undoubtably large Irish resource, and small home market, I would like to see a properly managed export market in operation and that's where I am slightly apprehensive over all of this.

I had further points for discussion but they will have to wait as I am aware that this post is long enough already.

So from having no firm renewable energy strategy a few months ago, has Ireland now all of a sudden got it's renewable energy strategy (albeit for export) given to it?

hi5

"I want to say that these would be great projects, but with the undoubtably large Irish resource, and small home market, I would like to see a properly managed export market in operation and that's where I am slightly apprehensive over all of this."


An 80% tax on exported profit, unless of course they're hoping for corporation tax like rates .

Funk It

hi5 wrote: »

An 80% tax on exported profit, unless of course they're hoping for corporation tax like rates .

I suppose I was also considering that those who will inevitably be benefiting from this export. Also, as it stands, there are no large wind turbines are manufactured in Ireland, could there be a clause in this agreement that a certain turbine manufacturer should be used, instead of being able to base it on the best financial basis. I don't think that I have explained that very well, but there are loads of other undisclosed points on what aspects parties are benefiting from this agreement.

Funk It

For anyone who is interested (or remotely interested), the EirGrid interconnector was opened yesterday in Meath, with trading due to commence from 1st of October.

DECC press Release:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/eirgrid/eirgrid.aspx


Further information was announced by Ofgem a couple weeks ago also.

Charging Methodologies:
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Pages/MoreInformation.aspx?docid=121&refer=Europe

Access Rules:
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Pages/MoreInformation.aspx?docid=119&refer=Europe