Ireland’s dream of shifting from fossil fuel use to renewable energy use is highly attainable as its immediate need for jobs prompts politicians to overcome planning obstacles.
Sitting at the western boundaries of Europe—not to mention at the very end of an energy supply chain—Ireland has many incentives in going green.
The government, with the Green Party as its junior coalition partner, believes it can beat a deadline set by the European Union to have Ireland generate 16 percent of its total energy from renewable sources by 2020. It even announced the possibility for Ireland to exceed the required percentage.
Ireland also set up its own goal of supplying 40 percent of its total electricity using renewable sources by then.
During the Green Party conference last weekend at Waterford, Irish Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Eamon Ryan was quoted as saying: “We have doubled our renewable energy. We can double it and double it again. It is the perfect answer to the recessionary blues”.
Industry estimates point out that to achieve their goals, the government is required to add around 6,000 megawatts (MW) worth of renewable energy—which will come mostly from wind turbines—to the present 6,000 MW coming from conventional energy sources.
Siemens Ireland, a Siemens unit which has seen involvement in renewable energy projects in Ireland since the 1926 establishment of the Shannon hydroelectric power plant in western Ireland, believes the country has ’a fair chance’ of meeting the deadline.
“I am convinced we will get there. The only question mark is will we be fast enough to make the targets? I always go for speed, speed, speed”, said Siemens Ireland CEO Werner Kruckow.
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