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7 min ago 3 min read
Debates around Ireland’s plans to build a state-owned LNG facility off the coast of County Clare are intensifying amid clashes over energy security and sustainability.
Under the Strategic Gas Reserve bill, a €900m floating storage and regasification unit would be developed to secure energy supplies in emergency situations.
Cahiracon in County Clare, along the Shannon Estuary, was selected among 14 proposals by Gas Networks Ireland last December. It aims to come online around 2030.
Speaking to RTE Radio, Timmy Dooley, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, said it would provide that “critical piece of security” in the event of a major unforeseen event or energy crisis.
“We need gas as a transition,” he said. “At the moment we’re dependent on two interconnectors into the UK and dwindling supply from the Corrib gas field. We cannot leave the country in a perilous state in the event of any disruption – there is potential from an accident or a bad actor, and the impact on our economy would be catastrophic.”
But Roderic O’Gorman, Leader of the Green Party, said the best way to enhance Ireland’s energy security is by developing its own energy through renewables.
“My concern with this project is it’s locking us into the use of LNG, which we’ve seen from the recent war with Iran, is subject to price spikes and to curtailments of supply,” he said.
“LNG doesn’t provide security of supply, it comes from areas where it’s likely to be put under pressure – whether it’s the Middle East or the US LNG, from fracked gas, where supply is linked to the whims of the Trump administration. What we need to do is double down on electrification.”
O’Gorman said under the new bill, new fossil fuel infrastructure is exempt under the Climate Action Act. “It’s fundamentally dishonest, and it’s going to push the need to reduce emissions onto other areas of society.”
Dooley said around 40% of its electricity is derived from renewables and 15 GW of additional supply is coming by 2040.
He said hydrogen will be “a fuel of the future”, and it is working to develop a future without fossil fuels.
Since the emergency reserve requires a multi-layered legal framework, a second piece of legislation must be introduced.
