More wind and solar farms needed now to hit climate targets, ministers warned

In a critical review published today, the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) says no new planning permissions for renewable projects were granted for 12 months up to last September.

The wind farm given the go-ahead then is now being appealed against and three others approved since are under judicial review. While electricity generation from renewable sources increased slightly last year, the CCAC says, it remains “significantly below the annual increase needed to meet growing demand and simultaneously satisfy 2030 targets for emission reductions”.

“Delays and appeals in the planning process for onshore wind projects in particular are significantly hindering progress,” it says.

The CCAC is calling for new regulations to fast-track planning permission for onshore turbines and solar arrays.

An EU directive allowing for the creation of “renewables acceleration areas” is due to be put into Irish law by July 1 and the CCAC says that must happen on schedule.

It would allow for central government to designate areas for renewable ­electricity projects of “overriding public interest”, sidestepping local authorities which have largely failed to zone for them.

Environmental assessments would be carried out in advance, meaning any project proposed for a designated area would not have to repeat the process.

The electricity sector is the third largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland, after agriculture and transport.

Its emissions come chiefly from ­fossil fuel-fired generating stations, one waste-to-energy facility, one natural gas production platform and one natural gas refinery.

Up to the end of 2023 it also came from the peat-powered electricity plant at Edenderry, which has since switched to biomass, but the CCAC said a recent announcement that it was to be connected to the gas network was “problematic”.

The continued burning of coal, the most carbon-intensive fuel, at the Moneypoint plant was also a problem and must end “at the earliest opportunity”.

The CCAC also has a strong warning about data centres, which used 18pc of all electricity in Ireland last year.

“For context, electricity demand from data centres accounts for 1.5pc of global electricity use and an estimated 1.8 – 2.6pc of the total EU electricity demand,” it said.

“The expansion in renewable electricity generation capacity is significantly outpaced by the growth in electricity demand, largely driven by data centres.

“It will be increasingly difficult to remain within the carbon budgets [emissions restrictions] if data centres continue to be connected before the country has the renewable capacity to accommodate them.”

Some data centres are seeking gas connections in order to generate their own electricity on site but while this would ease the demand for electricity from the national grid, it increases emissions.

The CCAC calls for Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) to be directed not to connect up any more data centres but it acknowledges that the law setting up GNI requires it to provide connections on request.

“The Government should immediately align the legal mandate for all public bodies to have regard to the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, particularly those operating in the energy sphere, such as the CRU, EirGrid, ESB Networks and Gas Networks Ireland,” it said.

CCAC chairwoman Marie Donnelly said the review was a stark reminder of the critical actions needed to ensure that the electricity sector reduced its emissions while catering for a growing demand.

“The Government must now move urgently to finalise all elements of planning reform that will help accelerate renewable delivery,” she said.

“Government must show leadership and take the actions required to ensure that Ireland can quickly capitalise on resources that we know are available but cannot come online due to system blockages. We know the potential – we now must have it realised.”

Other recommendations in the review focus on limiting peak-time demand for electricity by encouraging households and businesses to spread out their power usage where possible.

Peak-time surges in demand mean all available generators are brought into full production, including Moneypoint and the oil-fired plants which are the most polluting.

While 1.6 million households have smart meters but the CCAC says just 330,000 are making use of them to switch to smart tariffs that incentivise off-peak use.

The take-up rate must be increased, it says.

Similarly, large energy-using businesses must be better incentivised to shift power usage to off-peak periods.

The CCAC also calls for urgent attention to get more “grid” – cables, pylons and substations – installed to ensure all wind energy generated can be captured and dispersed. Wind farms often have to power down because the local grid is overloaded and cannot take all the electricity they produce.

According to the CCAC, half of all grid projects undertaken by EirGrid are at least a year behind schedule.