Nuclear - future for Ireland?

"At 40.42 cent per kilowatt-hour (including VAT and levies) prices here are almost 40 per cent above the EU average of 28.96 cent."

Who is paying 40.2 c/kwh? Is there anyone paying this?

How was this number derived at?

when looking at PPS were are down to 5th.

File:Electricity map 2025 2 V2.png - Statistics Explained - Eurostat

i believe that something is skewed..

can someone divide there last bill by no of units used? to get the price they pay.

But your point was cost and that the government had other things to spend things on. The government in 1926 and political realities are very different. Large parts of the country operated at substance levels. A few years later the country ended up in a trade war with it's only serious trading partner. To spend the equivalent today that the Irish government spent on Ardnacrusha is theoretically possible but politically forget about it. Which your post above has ignored.

Also if you read my link Ardnacrusha provided enough energy to power the entire country not 20%. But that's a reflection of how rich Ireland has become and how energy intensive modern living is.

The biggest issue with Nuclear is politics. One of the biggest reasons we have a housing crisis is due to NIMBYs and local politics. The government appears to be at least trying to make it easier to get planning approval for major infrastructure projects. But a nuclear reactor is very very different and is going to provoke a major public reaction which will impact politics.

my bill (I have solar and battery and heavily use night rate for 2/3rds of consumption) worked out at 28.5 cent a kWh for April {134 euro for 471kWh}

However only two months before (before the war btw) in February (a shorter month) it was 39c per kWh {168 euro for 431kWh}

So yes it’s not hard to see how we are being fleeced

They have to keep lights on in Germany?

Not enough nuclear?

They are also one of the most electric import dependent countries in world due to not enough capacity

1222kWh used in a month! Average for this country is like 4000-5000 per year

Whatever you growing pass it along 😂

5 of us in the house, but the EV was the main user @ 550kwh (all night rate) in April. Roughly 20kwh/100km so 2750km (pretty accurate). so about €55.

The equivalent car (ID4 V Tiguan) would do 10l/100km so €1.90*270 = €513

well done but you are clearly an outlier

the figures you are questioning comes from Eurostat

Ireland now has the most expensive electricity in Europe (slow clap) thanks to renewables, while remaining day after day in the top 3-5 for co2 emissions to add further insult to injury (at time of this post only Poland, Czechia and Germany are dirtier than us)

And people can’t even blame the last war as the rises occurred before it!

“As a result, the average household in Ireland is paying around €480 a year more for its electricity compared to the EU average.

The figures show Irish electricity prices jumped by 32.7% between July and December 2025, when compared with the same period in 2024.”

2026 is gonna be even worse for us

Finland generates 40% of it`s electricity from nuclear. The equivalent of 80% of our present demand. Of that 13% provided by OL3 (~26% of our current demand)

Prior to OL3 they imported 18 TWh - 24 TWh annually (20% - 30%) of electricity. Last year they imported 3TWh ~ 4% despite rising demand. Last year we imported 14.6%

Prior to OL3 5.5% of there generation was from gas. Last year it was 0.9%. Last year gas provided 40% of our electricity.

Prior to OL3 emissions were 101 gCo2. Last year 40 gCo2. Ireland last year 292gCo2 after importing 14.6% of our electricity.

We are now officially the most expensive country in the E.U for domestic electricity. Finland one of the most inexpensive.

Yeah, we really are blessed we are not Finland.

Why the costs of Poland’s first nuclear plant could spiral https://share.google/9cigyVnNpvLnajxjB

This is probably a bit alarmist in Polands case ,

Ireland on the otherhand doesn't really have a history on Keeping Costs under control ,

We are , development costs , and construction costs,and grid connections seem to have a lot to do with it ,

If we get those under control then nuclear would be a lot more viable, as someone else said - we could bring in emergency legislation to fast track planning and approval - and prevent unnecessary court challenges..

Of course that piece of legislation its self would be challenged in the courts , probably to the supreme court , likely several times if the challengers know what they're doing, and then likely go through the planning system again as currently - and then that in itself would be challenged..

But - but ,just say that planning and approval could be sped up , grid connections approved , and throw in government financing or guarantee of financing brought in to keep the cost of financing to nearer government borrowing costs ..

All that could apply to renewables too, making those far quicker and cheaper to build as well ,

I'd imagine committing to borrowing over 100 billion quid ( in todays money) for 7 reactors would likely seriously affect our national credit rating, pushing up all the nations borrowing and debt cost

OL3 generated 10.4 TWh in 2025 when it was offline for 58 days for refueling and maintenance. Had it not been it would have generated ~13 TWh so doing pretty much what it says on the tin. One third of our total generation for 2025 for €11 billion and one of the cheapest countries in Europe for domestic electricity.

But yeah their price of electricity, the drop in their imports of electricity, their reduction in gas usage and the drop in their emissions since OL3 became operational having nothing do do with OL3. Like French electricity exports it`s all due to renewables 🙄