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Ireland’s Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has revealed that a plan to export wind generation to the UK is now unlikely to happen before the 2020 deadline.
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An inter-governmental memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in January 2013 to cover the trade of renewable energy between the two countries as part of plans to meet the EU’s 2020 renewable energy targets.
Under the targets, if one country has difficulties in reaching its goal they are permitted to purchase surplus renewable energy from elsewhere. This prompted a plan to export wind energy generated in Ireland to the UK.
The MoU detailed 2300 wind turbines being built across the Irish midlands by 2020, supplying 5000 MW of power to the UK energy market.
The controversial proposal would have involved up to €7 billion of investment by Element Power and Mainstream Renewable Power, with substantial further investment from Bord na Mona.
The department said both countries had been working on the project since then, but due to economic and regulatory issues it would now not be possible to realise the plan before 2020.
The plan is said to have been obstructed by ongoing debate about the ideal future energy mix in the UK, and a longer term approach is now being taken regarding the supply of Irish wind power to the UK.
Irish Minister for Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte, has said that the UK still has a long way to go in terms of policy and regulatory design decisions on their side of the agreement, and that the pace of progress meant the 2020 deadline was not realistic.