Moneypoint closure and energy security
Deputy McNamara asked about the future of Moneypoint, warning against importing coal-generated energy. The Minister said energy security concerns meant it would likely operate to 2025 as backup power, but he did not envisage it continuing beyond then.
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Like the Minister, I look 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. In the meantime, it is slated for closure in 2025. The Minister suggested that decision might be revisited given the energy shortages. Will he give us an update on that? At the very least, will he assure us that we will not be importing energy because if we import energy, we will be importing energy generated from coal? Britain has ramped up coal-powered stations in response to the energy shortage. France and Germany also have such stations. In the short term, what is going to be done about our energy shortage? Will Moneypoint be part of the solution? Will the Minister assure us that we will not be importing coal-generated power from other countries?
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In answering an earlier question, I mentioned that we have a problem with energy security. Some of our gas-fired power stations have been down. 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. I do not envisage it 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.
If I may finish with one further point, the Deputy mentioned energy importation. As I mentioned earlier on, I was at the North Seas Energy Cooperation conference yesterday. All the talk at that conference was about Ireland having opportunities for export because, particularly on the west coast, we have that power-----
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-----and we should be, and are, thinking about how to export it.