Security of Energy Supply in Ireland - A Key Driver for Renewable Energy

摘要

Recent oil and gas price rises coupled with Russia - Ukraine gas supply interruptions have again focussed attention on security of energy supply. Security of energy supply is not always a well-defined or understood term. It is a multi-faceted phenomenon and may be classified in terms of physical (quantity) risks and price (economic) risks. It may also be treated in different timeframes, with short-term risks typically having different characteristics and impacts than long-term risks. This paper investigates the issues associated with security of energy supply using Ireland a case study for the analysis. The focus is on the electricity rather than thermal or transport energy markets. This provides a direct linkage to renewable energy policy, which in Ireland has been concentrated principally on in creasing renewable energy penetration in the electricity market. This in turn results in the focus of this paper being on security of gas supply, as gas is account for 72% of Ireland's electricity generation fuel mix in 2020. The paper examines a number of concerns regarding the existing gas supply system and explores options to address these. These include the short term risks associated with the single point of failure on the Scottish Interconnector and low pressure gas supply in the Cork area. The long term issues are linked to the increasing geographical concentration from which imports are drawn coupled with delays in harnessing the gas from the Corrib Gas Field. While options do exist for improving the gas supply infrastructure, a key component of improving Ireland's security of energy supply is the increased penetration of renewable energy, in particular wind energy in the short term. The key advantages of renewable energy in this regard are related to the indigenous nature of renewable resources and that absence of fuel price volatility.