EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Ireland’s Environment – An Integrated Assessment 2020 Electrification Electrification has considerable benefits in terms of ease of use, end-user efficiency and reduction in maintenance and operational costs. Increasing use of electrical energy in homes and businesses has been an ongoing trend since national electrification. This has accelerated over recent decades through the widespread use of electrical appliances and the emergence of digital systems and the digital economy. Electrification is projected to increase with the electrification of transport and heat being promoted as efficient and effective options to reduce emissions of key pollutants and, in particular, to decarbonise these sectors. From a climate perspective, electrification based on renewable energy can provide a pathway for large-scale decarbonisation. The demands of electrification and the emergence of a range of renewable energy sources at a range of scales provide considerable challenges for current power generation systems and models, including for the grid and its resilience (see Topic Box 12.2 below). Innovative solutions, including enhanced energy management and storage systems, are likely to be part of the next national grid system. Topic Box 12.2 EirGrid Strategic Objectives 2020-2025 SixDimensions Transforming the Power System for Future Generations… EirGrid is the Irish state-owned electricity transmission system operator. It is a public limited company registered under the Companies Acts and its shares are held by the minister responsible for energy in Ireland. EirGrid operates and develops the national transmission grid infrastructure and interconnections with neighbouring grids to meet the needs of all electricity users and it also operates the Single Electricity Market. EirGrid ensures that electricity is reliably available in a cost-effective manner. The EirGrid Strategy 2020-2025 (EirGrid, 2019) states its purpose – to Transform the Power System for Future Generations. Its primary goal is to Lead the Island’s Electricity Sector on Sustainability and Decarbonisation. The strategy is shaped by two factors – climate change and the impending transformation of the electricity sector. The transition to low-carbon and renewable energy will have widespread consequences. There will be major changes in how electricity is generated and in how it is bought and sold. There will also be major changes in how electricity is used, such as for transport and heat. The electricity system will carry more power than ever before and most of that power will come from renewable sources. Coal, peat- and oil-based generation will be phased out in the next decade. While this happens, new technology will allow electricity users to generate and store power and return any surplus to the grid. Combined with real-time consumption information from electricity users, this creates opportunities for all. Realising these opportunities will require a significant transformation of the electricity system. More importantly, these changes will need to be managed in a coordinated and cost-effective way. EirGrid Group has a unique role to play in leading the radical transformation that is now required and states that it will be a beacon towards an ultimate future for electricity that is sustainable and free from carbon. The EirGrid Strategy 2020-2025 closely aligns with the government’s Climate Action Plan published in 2019 and with the recently published Programme for Government 2020. Seventy per cent of electricity will be generated from renewable sources by 2030 and this target will require EirGrid to break new ground in the amount of renewable electricity we manage on the electricity system. In real terms, up to 10,000 megawatts of additional renewable generation will be connected to the electricity system and it will be able to accommodate 95 per cent of electricity from renewable sources at any one time. 314