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Ireland’s energy crisis

Ireland’s energy crisis thumbnail Energy is not one of Ireland’s strengths: we import almost 90 per cent of our power, we’ve made little progress in renewables, and we’re at the mercy of an unstable global market. Where will Ireland get its energy in years to come? Besides worries about climate change and security of supply, Ireland faces a capacity issue. A nuclear reactor is unlikely ever to dominate the landscape of Carnsore, Co Wexford. In Co Leitrim not a single rock has been fracked – and none might ever be. Yet nuclear power and hydraulic fracturing are already in Ireland. And although a large part of the population doesn’t want these two controversial power sources anywhere on the island, our purchase of their product is why energy is cheaper now than it has been for almost a decade. Ireland imports electricity derived from nuclear power from the UK through […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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Ireland takes steps toward wave energy

Wave pioneer Pelamis put on short list for Irish energy project. UPI/Matthew Healey EDINBURGH, Scotland, Sept. 26 (UPI) — Wave energy pioneer Pelamis said Friday it was put on the short list of companies slated for a role alongside Irish utility company ESB. The Irish government aims to install its first wave energy project, the five megawatt WestWave facilities, by 2018. It’s already secured support from the European Commission. Pelamis Wave Power said it’s been selected as one of the developers set to participate in the next stage of a competitive procurement process . Last year, the Pelamis P2 wave energy system was connected to the Scottish grid for an accumulated 7,500 hours, contributing 160 MW of electricity to the nation’s grid. The system works by converting wave energy into electricity using a snake-like device deployed offshore. Each unit in the system can generate as much as 100 kilowatts […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Bombing targets Irish drilling campaign

An energy company planning to drill for shale natural gas in Northern Ireland said the home of one of its workers was bombed. Tamboran Resources said last month it aims to drill what it says was a "scientific borehole" at a site in Northern Ireland. Since the July 21 announcement, the company said it secured an injunction that prevents outsiders from interfering with its operations because of a string of protests. The company said its workers have been the target of threats from groups worried the drilling campaign would lead to hydraulic fracturing, the controversial drilling practice dubbed fracking. A petrol bomb was thrown at the home of one of the company’s workers, though nobody was injured in the attack. "This was an orchestrated and abhorrent attack on a local family in the middle of the night," a statement published in the Daily Telegraph in London said Monday. "We […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Where’s That Irish Oil, Investors Wonder Two Years Later

Ireland finally found treasure at the end of the rainbow, or so it seemed in 2012. After drilling in the North Celtic Sea Basin, about 40 miles off the Cork coast, Providence Resources Plc said its Barryroe oil field may hold as many as 1.6 billion barrels. The company’s shares surged, and the government hailed the first “significant” test of oil flows off Ireland for 12 years just as the nation’s debt-ravaged finances cried out for a boost. Two years later, Providence still hasn’t found a partner to develop Barryroe, production has been delayed and the company’s share price has dropped 84 percent. For Ireland, it’s turned into another stalled attempt to emulate the North Sea discoveries that transformed economies and are underpinning Scotland’s bid for independence. “Every couple of years we have the ‘black gold’ headlines, we are going to be the new North Sea,” Pat Shannon, geology […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Ireland ready for offshore oil, gas auction

DUBLIN, Ireland, Nov. 12 (UPI) — Irish Natural Resources Minister Fergus O’Dowd said his government aims to attract international investors to an offshore oil and gas auction next year. “It is important then that the state provides suitable opportunities for international investors and provides the right environment to encourage industry to take the risk associated with investing in exploration,” he said at a conference Monday in Dublin. O’Dowd said at the conference the government would open parts of its territorial waters up for auction starting in April. The auction will run through September 2015 and include an offer for a two-year license for exploration. No commercial discoveries have been made offshore Ireland since 1996. An energy exploration team led by Exxon Mobil announced in April it started drilling in the Porcupine Basin, a first for deepwater work off the Irish coast. O’Dowd said there “no guarantees” for offshore success, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Irish energy chief Pat Rabbitte attends launch of Tipperary wind farm

DUBLIN, Ireland, Oct. 25 (UPI) — A 40-megawatt wind farm now under construction in central Ireland will help the country move closer to its renewable energy targets, a government minister said. “Ireland has a challenging European Union renewable energy target to meet by 2020, which includes meeting 40 percent of electricity demand from renewable sources,” Energy and Natural Resources Minister Pat Rabbitte said Thursday at the launch of the wind farm in central Brukhana country in Tipperary. “We are making progress towards this target, however, and development of renewable generation of the scale we will see at Bruckhana is crucial for maintaining the rate of build necessary to achieve our EU target.” State utility company Bord na Mona is in charge of construction of the wind farm. No date for completion was given. The Irish government said it’s committed to meeting 40 percent of electricity demand through renewable resources […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple