Based on the climate action plan 2021, by 2030, Ireland targets to achieve at least 5 GW of offshore, up to 8 GW of onshore wind farm installed capacity, and between 1.5 to 2.5 GW of solar PV. In addition, micro and small generation will lead to 760 MW of renewable energy capacity that may be accompanied by behind-the-meter Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs). These renewable energy targets make Ireland a world leader in renewable energy utilization and simultaneously increase the country’s reliance on the power system flexible resources.
Most of the planned interconnections (except the Celtic project) will link Ireland’s power system to Great Britain, which has similar renewable ambitions and a highly correlated wind regime with the Island of Ireland. Due to the geographical characteristics of Ireland, namely the limited potential of interconnections to the European member states, and a very limited potential to deploy Pumped Storage Hydroelectric power plants (PSHs) as a promising flexible resource, our flexibility requirements should be met by alternative domestic flexible resources such as green fuelled gas power plants or energy storage technologies, unless the operational problems (such as dispatch down of the renewables) will prohibit our electricity end-user to capture the whole economical benefits of a high renewable penetrated electricity system. Flexible resources such as BESSs require promising revenue streams to be developed in the electricity sector, especially in the technology transition phase.
In our “Energy Storage in Ireland: Barriers and Policy Interventions” report we have addressed a variety of barriers that are currently facing and will be faced in future by the BESSs in Ireland. The International Energy Research Centre (IERC) is seeking evidence and information to identify the existing barriers and determine the opportunities that BESSs bring to Ireland’s energy system, enabling these to cost-effectively meet the decarbonization targets. This call for evidence will support the development of a peer-reviewed report/paper that will be published to deliver empirical-evidence-based suggestions for policy considerations in relation to BESSs development, to the Department of Environment, Climate, and Communications.
Information that we receive through this call for evidence will help us to:
- Support the development of BESSs in Ireland;
- Collect evidence on the challenges and opportunities associated with the development of BESSs in the electricity sector;
- Collect evidence on the challenges and opportunities associated with the integration of BESSs to the electricity market in Ireland;
- Collect evidence on the challenges and opportunities associated with the provision of long-duration energy storage services.
- Provide feedback on the current draft document titled “Energy Storage in Ireland: Barriers and Policy Interventions”.
The call for evidence below is divided into 8 sections addressing the future policy and roles of BESSs as per above and feedback on the draft document. The responses to each of the questions below can be filled into the Call for Evidence document. The completed document should be returned by e-mail to info@ierc.ie by 5pm Friday 13th May 2022.
Responses may not cover all sections or even an entire section. This is a broad call for evidence, and we acknowledge that not all stakeholders will have time to complete all sections.
Please feel free to provide us with your valuable feedback on the draft version of the policy report.