In view of a low supply and a lack of storage, the EU member Ireland is heading towards a serious energy crisis, according to an expert. In an interview with the German Press Agency, Muireann Lynch from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in Dublin warned that power outages could already occur in the coming winter under certain circumstances.
In the winter of 2023/24, such blackouts can hardly be avoided. Lynch referred to the strong economic growth in the EU country and the increasing population. In addition, more and more data centers are going online. All of this increases demand.
No own gas production
“Unfortunately, we haven’t increased supply to the same extent,” Lynch said. There is a lot of renewable energy, especially from onshore wind farms. However, the gas production was not taken care of. There is only one developed gas field off the Irish coast. So far, it covers 25 percent of the demand, but it is estimated that it will be exhausted by 2030. The majority is imported from Great Britain, there are no gas or electricity storage facilities.
The government had already ruled out oil field exploration some time ago in order to catch up on climate protection. In all probability, the oil-powered Tarbert power plant will also be taken off the grid in the next twelve months, said Lynch.
“If the plant operators don’t manage to set up new emergency power generators very quickly, then things will get even tighter next winter because we will then have an even greater reduction on the supply side and there will probably not be enough supply on the grid,” said the expert. But demand will continue to rise. “Assuming Tarbert retires, I honestly don’t know how we’re going to avoid blackouts,” the expert said. Only luck with the weather can help: “Then the wind would have to blow exactly when we need it.”
“We were too optimistic”
Lynch said there was no quick help in sight. “There is currently no physical way for other EU members to help with their gas supplies as we do not have an LNG terminal and gas storage facilities.” Both are urgently needed, the expert warned, especially since liquefied natural gas (LNG) would reduce dependence on global gas prices.
“We were too optimistic that we could do it with heat pumps and electric cars.” Lynch also called for streamlining planning processes and reducing bureaucracy.
