COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF DEVELOPMENT PLAN MEETING

Tuesday, March 01, 2022

MOTION NO.93

MOTION: Councillor M. Johansson

This motion relates to Chapter 10 Energy, submission SD-C195-181 on page 877 of the CE report. To remove the following sentence from the new Section 11.5 Electricity Infrastructure: It is recognised that natural gas, particularly renewable and indigenous gas, will have a role to play in the transition to a low carbon economy. As such, renewable energy developments may require support from such sources in times of high energy demand. Reason: Neither natural gas nor so called renewable natural gas should be regarded as a greener alternative to other fossil fuels. Natural gas is a fossil fuel and should be phased out as soon as possible. It's still debatable whether or not RNG is a good alternative with many climate scientists advising against the replacing of natural gas with RNG.

REPORT:

This motion proposes the removal of the following sentence from Section 11.5 Electricity Infrastructure of the Draft Plan: “It is recognised that natural gas, particularly renewable and indigenous gas, will have a role to play in the transition to a low carbon economy. As such, renewable energy developments may require support from such sources in times of high energy demand”.  

Maintaining security of supply of gas is a stated priority of the government and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. However, the Department also acknowledges its responsibilities in reducing Ireland’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as a goal within the Climate Action Plan (2021). A target set within the Climate Action Plan is for a review of the Security of Supply of Ireland’s Electricity and Natural Gas Systems. 

 The Government published its ‘Policy Statement on Security of Electricity Supply’ in November 2021. The statement indicated that a majority of renewable energy generated by 2030 will be from wind and solar. However, in recognising that these sources of renewable energy are variable in nature other technologies will be required to both support their operation and provide electricity supplies when not generating. The Policy Statement is clear that this will require a combination of conventional generation (typically powered by natural gas), interconnection to other jurisdictions, demand flexibility and other technologies such as energy storage and generation from renewable gases. 

Renewable natural gas refers to biomethane which is produced from farm and food waste through a process known as anaerobic digestion. It offers the potential to reduce emissions across key sectors of the economy including heating, industry, transport and power generation, while also supporting the decarbonisation of the agri-food sector. 

Circular PL12- 2021 relating to the Policy Statement addressed to Local Authorities makes it clear that there is a short to medium term risk to electricity security of supply as identified by the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) due to a number of factors:  

- lower than expected availability of some existing power stations;  

- anticipated new power stations not being developed as planned;  

- expected growth in demand for electricity, due to increased activity by high energy consuming industries including the growth of data centres,  

- the expected closure of power stations which make up approximately 25% of conventional electricity generating capacity over the coming years.  

As a result, the policy statement sets out the Government’s approval of: 

  1. the development of new conventional generation (including gas-fired and gasoil distillate-fired generation) is a national priority and should be permitted and supported in order to ensure security of electricity supply and support the growth of renewable electricity generation; 
  2. it is appropriate that existing conventional electricity generation capacity should be retained until the new conventional electricity generation capacity is developed in order to ensure security of electricity supply; 
  3. the connection of large energy users to the electricity grid should take into account the potential impact on security of electricity supply and on the need to decarbonise the electricity grid; 
  4. it is appropriate for additional electricity transmission and distribution grid infrastructure, electricity interconnection and electricity storage to be permitted and developed in order to support the growth of renewable energy and to support security of electricity supply; and 
  5. it is appropriate for additional natural gas transmission and distribution grid infrastructure to be permitted and developed in order to support security of electricity supply. 

 The Government’s aim to increase the percentage of electricity generation from renewables to 80% by 2030, where achievable and cost effective, without compromising security of electricity supply, will require the contribution from non-renewable sources of 20% of our energy demand. The objective for 2050 is for all electricity generation to be from renewables. 

It is considered that natural gas and renewable/indigenous gas will continue to play an important part in Ireland’s security of electricity supply and electricity generation in Ireland beyond 2030. The government has set out its position in the Policy Statement on Security of Electricity Supply. This will supersede any contrary policy in the Development Plan and this motion should not be adopted at this time. 

CE Recommendation: It is recommended that the motion is not adopted