Energy infrastructure

Busman Paddy Lasty

Be grand, so long as they don't accept objections between 1am and 2am.

Birdnuts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121496760#Comment_121496760

Under the previous dodgy Hyde regime they would probably just rubber stamp it - given the recent reforms in ABP we will see if they take stuff like protection of nearby peatlands, watersheds etc. more seriously. Having said that the area earmarked has already been severely damaged by Coillte industrial Spruce plantations, which might help the developers get it threw. However concerns like potential Bog slides/landslips and polluting silt runoff into sensitive watersheds may still be issues given the massive and deep excavations to secure these giant turbine bases on peaty soils in an area of huge annual rainfall totals. Also I'd say the nearby major Tourist Facility at the nearby Ceide Fields might have something to say on their visual intrusion.

Brief_Lives

The head of the Polish National Security Bureau has stated that Poland has three year window to prepare for war with Russia.

Ireland need to be quasi energy dependent a few years after that... that means investment in Nuclear and Geothermal.

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121514879#Comment_121514879

Given that most of the Uranium used in European Nuclear reactors comes from Russia, that is perhaps not such a great idea.

Also Poland is a NATO country, so any attack by Russia would activate article 5 and thus a full response from the US and NATO.

Brief_Lives

Yes we all know about article 5.

This polish chap is probably lookingf r soundbite to validate all the military toys they have ordered from the US and South Korea.

Reads for interesting reading...

https://news.err.ee/1609183456/polish-security-chief-nato-eastern-flank-states-have-3-years-to-prepare-for-russia-attack

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121516187#Comment_121516187

Don’t get me wrong, I think it is wise for the Polish and other NATO nations to invest in their militaries given the threat that isn’t far from their borders. The stronger they are the less likely a war is to happen.

It is much cheaper to invest in your military and never have to use it, than look weak and end up in a much more expensive war.

Germany in particular needs to get off its ass and get its act together. And of course we should be sending Ukraine everything it needs.

If folks are serious about a 4 to 7 year timeline, then this is what we should do about energy security:

• forget about Nuclear, it takes 20 years to build one power plant, wouldn’t help with this timeline
• Geothermal is interesting, but the deep geothermal technology is pretty new and largely unproven, probably more realistic for ten years from now.

So what to do:

• Build out all those wind farms and solar farms that are planned as quickly as possible. There is already, pipeline of active projects, many supposed to be finished in the next 4 to 7 years anyway, so just pull out all the delays on them and get them done. Give us the ability to generate close as possible to 100% of our power via renewables when available.

Of course I know what people might say, but what if the wind isn’t blowing, well we will still need as a backup gas so do the following too:

• Put in place the planned backup floating LNG terminal. It can act as both a storage of gas and importation capacity for LNG. The Germans put one in place in just 6 months, so very doable.
• reopen Kinsale as a gas storage facility. Should be doable in 4 years or less and would give you months of gas storage.
• let those seeking license to develop new oil and gas fields near Corrib go ahead, develop our own native oil and gas fields.

Of course try and use as little of this gas as possible and long term long to move off it. But if I really had just 4 years to prepare for war in Europe, that is what I’d do. Basically become self sufficient.

Birdnuts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121516418#Comment_121516418

Nonsense - as the German example shows, their vast spend on solar and wind has simply left them more dependent on the likes of coal and imports of power from surrounding grids. Such policies have also added to energy poverty/cost of living crisis there and here.

Ubbquittious

If everyone has panels + ashp + smart meters + zappi & a couple of pylontechs and we keep encouraging megacorps to build wind farms there will be nothing to worry about

antoinolachtnai

There’s a lot of value here but really, home solar panels do nothing for energy security. They just don’t provide any winter cover.

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121516418#Comment_121516418

Exactly this.

The problem is gas storage seems to be a non runner for our current minister- so even if we build out all the renewables in double quick time we’ll be in a spot of bother in prolonged non windy periods in the depths of winter- if we get an issue in the Moffat lines.

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121517045#Comment_121517045

The recent energy security review has laid out various gas storage options which the government is to make a decision on in the new year. The Minister in question has said he is supportive of those options.

The only thing I’d say he would be against is the idea of developing more of our oil and gas fields.

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121517063#Comment_121517063

Tbh I’ll believe it when I see it regarding the minister agreeing to floating LNG storage or using kinsale as gas storage- I just don’t know how he can sell this to GP members after telling them all he won’t spend money on fossil fuel infrastructure- he’s kinda backed himself into a corner a bit- but we’ll see next year I suppose!!

josip

I imagine it would be difficult to sell an exploration license with restrictive conditions like, "if you find gas you can only sell it when we want to buy it and let you sell it." Do such contracts exist?

Brief_Lives

no

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121517075#Comment_121517075

Minister Ryan literally said he is in favour of it and is an important part of our transition to renewables:

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/new-gas-storage-supership-would-cost-more-than-300m-so-ireland-is-likely-to-lease-instead/a1585890724.html

“The key parameter is the strategic outcome and the security. We want to have a vessel that will be there to provide a continuous level of security and will be operated in a way that gives us that,” Mr Ryan said.

He has said this or variants of this numerous times over the past two years, so I don’t know why some people keep doubting it.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121516418#Comment_121516418

It does not take 20 years to build nuclear reactors.

If the will was there, we could be net zero - for real - in a decade, not never, which is the reality of the current BS plan.

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121517610#Comment_121517610

There is simply no way we could build a nuclear power plant in Ireland in even 10 years!

The above table is also misleading, construction time doesn’t include the years of planning and objections and court cases before you even start construction. never mind the fact that Nuclear is illegal in Ireland.

Also the post was suggesting we need to do something in 4 years, Nuclear wouldn’t help.

Anyway this is all pure fantasy stuff.

Brief_Lives

no chat about nuclear

CatInABox

EDIT: Just removed this to avoid the thread being derailed.

Brief_Lives

no chat about nuclear

bk

I don't think we are really supposed to talk about Nuclear on this thread, there is another thread on Nuclear in Ireland to cover that.

CatInABox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121518571#Comment_121518571

Ah yeah, totally forgot, I've edited mine to remove it, this thread goes off the rails enough as it.

Brief_Lives

yep, edited

gjim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121516672#Comment_121516672

Left more dependent on imports? You couldn't be more wrong. In the last 15/20 years, Germany has become a massive exporter of electricity having previously consistently importing the stuff. It was global number one electricity exporter for 13 of the last 15 years - https://oec.world/en/profile/hs/electricity - from historically being an importer of electricity.

Their grid reliability has also increased significantly during the period - so that in the last 10 years or so, they've consistently had the most reliable grid in the world with an unbelievable SAIDI score of just 12.4 minutes interruption per customer during 2022. The USA - far more reliant on coal and nuclear, the SAIDI is generally measured in hours - over 1 hour 20 minutes in the same year.

This notion that Germans are too stupid/incompetent to manage their electricity supply and that the Energiewende has been a disaster is laughable. It's a US-originated/MAGA/neckbeard meme with no basis in actual numbers or facts but gullibly swallowed by the likes of yourself. I know you really want to believe this - because you're a climate change skeptic - so you desperately want to believe that any reduction in fossil fuel consumption is a disaster. Otherwise I can't think what would make it so difficult to believe that the Germans might know what they're doing, that they're pretty good at engineering and particularly good at producing stuff for export.

Birdnuts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121520406#Comment_121520406

Sorry but thats simply untrue, dumping of excess wind energy on to nearby grids during brief windy periods does not make Germany a credible exporter of energy- fracking has made the US far more energy independent then Germany, not to mention energy costs far lower across their economy compared to Germany . Then you have the reality of a growing dependency on coal since the Ukraine war https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-04/germany-orders-three-old-lignite-plants-to-operate-in-winter

PS: Not sure where you got the notion about my views on climate change. The best way to buffer against climate change is to use proven low carb tech like Nuclear while not destroying Carbon storing habitats that buffer us against extreme weather like peatlands and rainforests by subjecting them to destructive activities like windfarms and biofuel production, pushed by those brainwashed by Greenwash scams.

josip

So do you have any objection to offshore wind since it doesn't affect peatlands adversely?

Busman Paddy Lasty

Would hazard a guess that protection of bird life, large species and migratory species would be top priority for a good few people in this country relating to offshore wind projects.

I would certainly like to see offshore projects designed around known migration patterns or bird strike studies from existing offshore farms.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121520406#Comment_121520406

That data was up to 2021. Germany is now an importer in 2023, by an amount pretty much matching the output of the nuclear power plants they shut down. Not only that, but there has been a significant decline in the manufacture of fertilisers and other chemicals that required low cost energy, as the manufacturers have balked at paying the now high wholesale prices for electricity. This is the major contributor to Germany's recent economic decline. But yeah, other than that massive own goal, they are geniuses in terms of their energy managment and policies.

They are over reliant on solar, so with output dropping 80% these winter months, they are on course to import more energy and burn more gas so the carbon profile of the winter energy production is going up relatve to recent years.

https://energycentral.com/news/german-net-electricity-imports-surged-after-nuclear-plant-shutdowns

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121521199#Comment_121521199

The wake turbulence from Offshore wind looks to have the potential to disrupt ocean currents. It's too early in the realisation of this phenomenon to say whether this will have any consequences over time.

josip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121522235#Comment_121522235

However, because of almost constantly changing wind directions, the magnitude of the monthly averages is so low that it can hardly be distinguished from the interannual variability (Christiansen et al., 2022).