Grid costs will cost households and businesses an additional € 354 million next year as part of a large rollout of grid and transmission networks. The Energy Regulator explains :
The five years from 2016 to 2020 will require continued investment in the transmission system and delivering ongoing infrastructure projects. The PR3 period was characterised by the initiation of a large scale infrastructure delivery programme in order to meet 2020 renewable generation targets
So the transition to the green economy doesn't involve dismantling of the existing fossil fuel system. Instead, it means adding capacity and grid infrastructure paid for by you and me. This is fast turning into a gravy train for whoever has the best idea for extracting more money from electricity bills, or in economic terms, a bubble.
The same is happening elsewhere in Europe. In Germany, grid costs will soon rise by a whopping 45%-80% as network infrastructure struggles to keep up with all the additional capacity :
http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/tennet-und-50hertz-erhoehen-netzentgelte-a-1113741.html
There is no going back now. We have committed ourselves to a crazy energy policy. No wonder the European Union is no longer as popular as it used to be.
The grid enhancements are unnecessary as the 2020 target ,for wind generation, is technically impossible to achieve. They did not even do a Feasibility Studyto see if these targets are achievable. It is the blind following the blind.
ReplyDeleteRoll out the grid reinforcement - gotta keep Google, Facebook and the iCloud burnin' and turnin'! Eirgrid has existing commitments to 550MW and enquiries for another 1000MW of nice green data centres, and all that free wind generated electricty has to be piped to them. See http://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/data-centre-growth-comes-at-price-for-irish-infrastructure-1.2759291
ReplyDeleteSo stump up your PSO, folks, its all in the interest of all those green jobs that Eamonn Ryan believes are in the pipeline. A small price for a a huge return to all of us from a Green Ireland.