Moneypoint is to close as scheduled in 2025 despite warnings of a potential capacity shortfall in Ireland’s electricity grid over the coming five years.
An increased electricity use across the country is seeing Ireland’s older generating fleet struggle to keep up while further demand is predicted with the growth of the data centre sector. EirGrid forecasts a capacity shortfall of as much as 1,850 megawatts in the 2024-25 winter period if no action is taken.
Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan (GP) told the Dáil that he does not envisage Moneypoint operating beyond 2025. “I will be pushing my Department, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, which is the energy regulator, and others to try to ensure we have the flexible open-cycle back-up capacity needed to give us balancing power, rather than having to rely on Moneypoint. Neither Moneypoint nor the station at Tarbert are suited to that role. The plants were designed to run constantly rather than to be switched on and switched off. They take a long time to heat up and do not work well in that sort of flexible back-up role”.
In the interim, Minister Ryan acknowledged, “It is likely that Moneypoint will continue to operate up to 2025 to provide back-up power when the wind is not blowing or other gas-fired generators are not available for any one of a variety of reasons”.
Clare TD, Michael McNamara (IND) had questioned if the planned closure would be reversed given the energy shortages. “Britain has ramped up coal-powered stations in response to the energy shortage. France and Germany also have such stations,” he noted while querying if Moneypoint was to be “part of the solution”. The Scariff native said he looked forward “to the plant at Moneypoint becoming a green energy hub. I hope hydrogen will be manufactured there using energy generated by harnessing the power of the Atlantic”.
Speaking in Ennis, Tánaiste and Minister for Trade, Enterprise and Employment, Leo Varadkar (FG) flagged that Moneypoint will be needed “for a couple of years yet because there is a bit of a crunch on energy supply which has improved in the last couple of weeks”.
This use is unlikely to stretch past 2025, the Tánaiste admitted, “We think it is possible to come off coal and oil by then, given the energy crunch we have at the moment both Moneypoint and Tarbert will be needed for a couple of years yet”.
