Lost renewable energy enough to power Galway for a year

New report calls for a stronger electricity grid to cut CO₂ emissions

A new report published today by Energy Storage Ireland and the Irish Wind Energy Association calls for immediate action to strengthen Ireland’s electricity grid as new figures show enough renewable electricity was lost in the first six months of 2020 to power Galway for a year.

Renewable electricity is lost when wind farms are instructed to reduce the amount of power they generate because the transmission system is unable to cope with the large volumes of clean power available. This is known as ‘dispatch down’ and for the first half of 2020 it is running at an average of 11.5 per cent, which means almost an eighth of total available wind energy was lost.

This increases our dependency on fossil fuels and produced at least an additional 47,000 tonnes of CO₂ every month so far this year. Although Ireland is a world leader in the integration of renewable electricity, the transmission system is now struggling to cope with rising levels of renewable energy, a challenge which will only grow as new wind and solar farms are built.

Saving Power, published jointly by Energy Storage Ireland and the Irish Wind Energy Association, shows how a strong electricity grid is essential to achieving the 70 per cent renewable electricity target by 2030. It is the second of a series of four studies which make up the 70by30 Implementation Plan.

Its priority recommendations include:

• The CRU must give EirGrid and ESB Networks the resources they need to build new grid infrastructure to connect rising numbers of renewable energy projects;
• Ireland must start to replace the fossil fuel back-up currently used on the electricity system with zero-carbon solutions like demand response and energy storage;
• The new interconnectors to Britain and France must be delivered on time and planning should start now for new interconnections in the 2030s;
• Redesign and reinforce the transmission system with a focus on parts of the country where large volumes of renewable energy are expected to be developed.

David Connolly, CEO of the Irish Wind Energy Association, said: “We cannot achieve our 2030 targets with today’s electricity system.

“There are already wind farms in the west of Ireland which are ready to go but are stalled because the transmission system is not strong enough to get power from where it is generated to where it is needed.

“We know that the electricity grid on Ireland’s east coast can only take another 1.5 GW of renewable energy yet the Climate Action Plan aims for 3.5 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and the new Programme for Government increases that ambition to 5 GW.

“In the coming months the CRU will set the budget that EirGrid and ESB Networks will use for the next five years. If they are not given the resources they need to build a 21^st century electricity grid then no amount of wind farms or solar farms will be enough to hit our 2030 targets. Industry will not build wind farms to sit idle.”

As well as new grid infrastructure, new technologies will be needed in the coming years, particularly to replace expensive fossil fuel generators currently used to provide back-up services to the electricity grid.

Sam Harden, Chairperson of Energy Storage Ireland, said: “Engineers and researchers in EirGrid and ESB Networks have already shown the world how to achieve what was previously thought impossible, raising the limits on the integration of renewables so that up to two-thirds of our electricity demand can be met with renewable energy at any one time.

“But momentum has stalled and these limits are increasingly forcing the curtailment of renewable generation. We are losing more renewable electricity every year. This means more fossil fuels and more CO₂ emissions.

“We need a new electricity system with new technologies. Battery storage, new interconnectors and demand response can end our reliance on fossil fuels to back-up the electricity system. This will save the electricity consumer €117 million annually by 2030 and could cut Ireland’s CO₂ emissions by two million tonnes every year.

“An electricity grid and market designed for coal and peat is not fit for a future where 70 per cent of our annual electricity demand is coming from wind and solar. These renewables, supported by storage technology, can deliver a safe, secure, reliable and fossil-free electricity system.”

Saving Power is the second of four studies which make up the 70by30 Implementation Plan, which identifies the policy and technical changes needed to achieve the 70 per cent renewable electricity target set in the Climate Action Plan at the lowest cost to the consumer.

The first report, Saving Money, was published in June. The third and fourth reports – Building Onshore Wind and Building Offshore Wind – are due for publication before the end of the year.

Background

Dispatch down figures are published quarterly by EirGrid and are available here.

Dispatch down can occur in a specific area where so much electricity is being produced in a county that the system cannot transport it from there to where it is needed. This form of dispatch down is known as a constraint.

It can also take place at a system-wide level. To ensure the secure operation of the electricity system EirGrid currently limits the share of electricity demand which can be met by renewable energy at any one time to 65 per cent. If the electricity provided by wind farms goes over this limit they are dispatched down. This is known as curtailment. EirGrid expects to increase this limit to 75 per cent by 2021.

Demand response is also known as Demand Side Management. This is where a medium or large energy user agrees to reduce their electricity demand at the request of EirGrid. This helps alleviate pressure on the electricity system.