"Green" policies are destroying this country

Rest of the world is moving on, meanwhile Ireland signs up to clean energy pact at North Sea Summit. What's in the Hamburg declaration?, viable electricity generation or political virtue signalling at consumers expense?

This Declaration does not create any rights or obligations under national or international law.
Regarding the participating EU Member States, the Declaration does not prevail over the rights
and obligations arising from their membership of the European Union.

No doubt Irish politicians will spin this as "moral & international obligations" as excuse to tax Irish citizens more to underwrite scams such as "green hydrogen", "carbon capture & storage" and off-shore wind turbines.

There are severe infrastructure bottlenecks that have a host of causes e.g. Water and sewage capacity, electricity distribution and transport that create long delays in utility connections coupled with paralysis in the state run planning sector. There are several reasons, one of which is the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 which ruled planning authorities now have a legal obligation to consider "climate objectives".

Under the guise of central planning the Irish economy, The people we elected to run the state over the past three decades have decreed that transport and heating must be electrified, that 100% electricity must be generated using wind and solar and stored in batteries for later use. This is coupled with an act of virtue signalling in 1999 that banned nuclear generation in Ireland that remains in force. Back in the 60s and 70s, nuclear power generation was actively being considered and developed for Ireland, after the Carnsore protest the topic became politically radioactive, not helped by the economic slump that lasted much of the '80s that defined the next decade. Even in 2026 our politicians won't touch the topic with a barge pole. It will take a combination of Grid failure, accelerating electricity prices and change of mind in Germany before the Irish establishment will concede nuclear is an option. It takes 10 years to get any major power plant built, so unlikely this side of 2040. In the meantime, as long as you can't see the cooling towers in Ireland , nuclear generated power from France (or the UK) via expensive inter-connectors is just fine.

Now us consumers have problems, wind and solar generation are both unreliable, low density and low quality sources requiring more infrastructure to support them. When electricity demand is at its highest on long cold frosty nights, wind and solar totally disappear from the grid and themselves become consumers of electricity (snow covered or frost covered panels don't generate power and need heating elements to keep them frost free, The nacelles in wind turbines have air conditioning that draws power). Battery storage is use manage dips and rises in wind and solar production and used to handle demand peaks, they have insufficient storage and supply pipeline to operate for long are expensive and must be replaced after a decade. This 100% failure requires backup electricity generation source, which come in the form of burning gas & other oil based distillates. The inter-connectors to Britain connect us to generators that use gas, this generation until recently has been considered "carbon neutral" because it is imported.

Needless to say, gross inefficiency in managing the current (sic) system has driven up the cost of electricity consumption and will continue to drive costs further upwards, this is a primary reason people people are installing solar panels to try and offset the cost hoping to make a payback on the installation costs over 5 to 6 years.

Gas supply is becoming a problem, Corrib field is declining, Inishkea West should been it going a bit longer, since Ireland has no ports than can handle LNG our only other source is gas is via the Moffat line from Scotland which are sourced from the North sea and LNG terminals in Wales. Currently Irelands only gas reserves are whatever can be packed into the Moffat line. In the event of a gas emergency the electricity generators can switch over to burning diesel. Pay attention to what is happening in the North sea, over the past 30 years UK state administrations have been penalizing North sea production, as a consequence the UK are losing their chemical and refining industry, their steel processing is effectively gone. Ireland is almost completely dependent on the UK for Petrol and Diesel supplies. In the event of a winter season like 1962-63 we will experience fuel shortages, thankfully that does not happen often, It will again, bear in mind the population of both countries has grown massively since the '60s and how people in the UK & Ireland consume fuel has changed with more dependence on gas.

The primary case for nuclear generation in Ireland is stable base-load power generation leading to stable electricity pricing, also if that is important to you, it is carbon neutral, with very little waste. If you are interested see.

• Ireland’s absence of a nuclear power option leaving it in a “decisively disadvantageous” position according to EirGrid briefing – TheStory.ie
• Irish Fiscal Council Irelands Infrastructure Demands
• Small is beautiful: The future use of nuclear power in Ireland - Engineers Ireland

To power the government target 845,000 passenger electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030, along with additional targets for light goods vehicles, heavy goods vehicles, and buses we need a new 400 MW power station and a scaled up electricity distribution system. A target of 400,000 heat pumps assuming seasonal COP (Coefficient of Performance): ≈3 will need another 140 MW generation.

There is another issue happening due to infrastructure bottlenecks that may not yet be visible on the surface, future capital investment in Ireland is not happening, being cancelled and existing assets are being sweated. It will probably show up in the employment numbers for 40 to 60 years olds over the next 5 years (20 to 30 year olds are migrating). Investments not being made today have consequences down the line.

Unlikely, The micro‑generation support scheme with the Clean Export Guarantee (CEG) pays households for surplus exports (plus SEAI grants), steering "prosumers" like the guy in the video to use the grid as a "battery" rather than disconnect from the grid. By June  this year , suppliers must offer dynamic pricing to households, shifting demand away from peak and rewarding flexible use, which in theory should be another lever to keep costs down without loading everything into a blunt standing charge, will they offer value, I remain skeptical.

Most people cannot manage DIY batteries, there are regulations to comply with, insurance and warranty issues matter more. Already battery powered scooters and bikes are a safety concern, putting them in your attic. . . . I'd be wary, especially the cheap ones.

May be a grain if truth in the case of large energy users.