Poor power grid preventing renewable energy investment

Poor power grid preventing renewable energy investment


Anton McNulty

MAYO will be left behind in the development of renewable energy sources unless the national grid lines in the county are upgraded to allow energy to be exported.
The comment was made by Cllr Michelle Mulherin at yesterday’s monthly meeting of Mayo County Council following a presentation on the National Wave Test Centre near Belmullet by James Ryan the Marine Manager of the Ocean Energy Development Unit.
In his presentation Mr Ryan said there was huge potential for the west of Ireland to be a leader in the development of wave and tidal energy. He said the research was still in its infancy but they hoped to emulate Denmark who became the leading manufacturers of wind turbines following similar research and development in the 1970’s.
Mr Joe Beirne, Director of Services with Mayo County Council said the project was a positive development and they would be supportive of it. However, Cllr Michelle Mulherin who is the Chair of the Planning, Economic Development and Emergency Services SPC commented that having all the natural resources in Mayo meant nothing if the transmission lines were not in place to export the energy.
“There is a lot of data out there to say we have the resources but we have a problem with the provision of transmission lines. If you look at a map of Mayo’s grid, and compare it to a road system you would say there are no roads. There is no political urgency there and why would someone involved in wind energy make an application to Mayo County Council if they cannot get connected to the grid. If there are no lines to take the power out of the county we are going nowhere and all aspirations for renewable energy will be pie in the sky,” she said.
Cllr Mulherin added that the political will was not there to upgrade the line and called on the Minister for Energy, Éamon Ryan to call on Eirgrid to provide a plan for the upgrade of transmission lines into Mayo.
Fianna FΡil councillor, MicheΡl McNamara said he was in total agreement regarding the national grid and suggested that Cllr Mulherin’s meet with Minister Ryan and voice her concerns.
Cllr Peter Flynn said that Cllr Mulherin had ‘hit the nail on the head’ regarding the problems with the grid into and out of the county. He said the development of wave energy could be something that could be exported to the wider world but it was something they needed to get right.
Cllr Gerry Coyle claimed Erris could be another Saudi Arabia in the production of energy but this could not happen without the infrastructure in place.
Belmullet based councillor Rose Conway-Walsh welcomed the location of the test centre in Mayo but asked Mr Ryan what effort was being made to bring in manufacturing jobs related to wave energy into Erris. She said the area needed jobs and she did not want any potential jobs going to Cork or Scotland.
In answering some of the questions, Mr Ryan admitted that the grid in Mayo was ‘lagging behind’ but hoped what they were doing in north Mayo would lead to the upgrade of the grid.
The County Manager, Peter Hynes (pictured) said that having the National Wave Test Centre in Mayo was a ‘big plus’ which put them ahead of other counties. He said they will be presenting the Council’s renewable energy strategy in the coming weeks and added that when that is adopted they will be able to lobby for investment in the grid.