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LAST UPDATE | 4 Mar
THE GOVERNMENT HAS approved a plan to develop an emergency gas reserve for Ireland, the fruit of years of reviewing Ireland’s energy security and to-ing and fro-ing over how to respond.
Ireland’s lack of domestic gas storage has been pointed to as a potential risk for energy security if an interconnector that supplies our gas imports is damaged.
However, environmentalists say they are “very concerned” that developing new gas infrastructure is a dangerous move at a time when Ireland and the world at large need to be moving away from fossil fuels, not investing more into them.
The emergency reserve that Cabinet has approved today will be in the form of a Floating Storage and Regassification Unit (FSRU) operated by Gas Networks Ireland. It’s a large vessel that will be able to store and transport Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and turn it from liquid back to a gaseous state to supply to the national gas network.
It will have capacity for 170,000 cubic metres of LNG, which could supply Ireland’s entire gas demand for seven days.
The government has stressed that it will only be used in emergency circumstances.
However, some ‘boil-off gas’ created during evaporation must be removed to preserve the tanks’ pressure and a ‘minimum’ amount will be sent to the national gas network so that gas isn’t lost in that process — which means the reserve will likely need to be refilled up to six times per year.
The ship will be moored on a purpose-built jetty at a ‘coastal site’ somewhere in Ireland.
At the same time, it’s been confirmed that a previous policy stance against fracked gas is no longer in place now that a review of Ireland’s energy security has concluded with the approval of the FSRU.
The Department of Environment said that “any application for fossil fuel infrastructure in Ireland will be subject to the planning, consenting and regulatory approvals by relevant bodies and the provision of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2021 will apply”.
Gas is a fossil fuel that contributes to pushing global temperatures upwards, creating the climate crisis that is already having significant consequences in parts of the world and will grow worse if left unchecked.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has outlined that reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector requires major transitions, including a substantial reduction in fossil fuels, and that continuing to install unabated fossil fuel infrastructure would “lock- in” greenhouse gas emissions.
Many experts, politicians and activists argue that gas should be moved away from as quickly as possible in favour of renewable energy sources.
Others posit that gas is valuable as a ‘transition’ fuel to complement renewable sources whilst moving away from other fossil fuels. That’s the position that this government is adopting.
Last week, in an address to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that Ireland needs an “energy revolution” and that wind and solar energy can make Ireland energy-independent and help to meet climate goals.
He added, though, that Ireland also needs to “protect our energy security” during the transition and that “gas is essential to this”, promising the government would create a “flexible, strategic gas emergency reserve to mitigate risk of disruption to gas supplies”.
“Using gas as a transition fuel does not undermine our climates goals. It is the only realistic route open to us as we seek to also protect people’s livelihoods,” he said.
The new programme for government developed by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Regional Independent group after the election did not explicitly refer to plans for gas. Instead, it promised to “take all necessary action to ensure and protect Ireland’s energy security”.
It was a shift in tone from the preceding programme for government in 2020 under the Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green Party coalition, which included promises like ending new licences for exploring and extracting gas. The former government also said it did not believe it made sense to develop LNG gas import terminals importing fracked gas – though the wider question of whether to develop LNG infrastructure at all was always a point of contention.
Ciaran Brennan, spokesperson for environment NGO network Environmental Pillar, said that the group is “very concerned” by the plan, warning that it risks deepening Ireland’s reliance on fossil fuels and “lock us into a gas infrastructure when we should be moving to clean, renewable and fossil-free energy”.
“Ironically, far from guaranteeing us a safe, reliable supply of energy, investing in LNG risks leaving at the mercy of an increasingly unreliable trade partner such as the US which seems intent on imposing tariffs on countries it does business with,” Brennan said.
“We also have environmental concerns around the process of fracking at source in countries such as the US, including water contamination, high water usage, air pollution, habitat destruction and earthquakes as well as health and social concerns for affected communities,” he said.
“At this late stage, we are still calling on the Government to keep Ireland free of fracked gas and LNG imports and not to build new infrastructure that prolongs our dependence on fossil fuels.”
Jerry Mac Evilly, head of policy at climate campaigning organisation Friends of the Earth, said that “building a terminal means more use of expensive fossil gas, possibly for decades to come”.
“We have major concerns that this decision may fly in the face of climate obligations and create a new reliance on costly, polluting Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and potentially on highly damaging US fracked gas exports,” Mac Evilly said.
“This dependence on expensive gas infrastructure, costing hundreds of millions in public money, also means new charges on customers’ bills – and this would come at the very time the Government is talking about removing energy credits and being lambasted for having the highest electricity prices in Europe.”
Mac Evilly added that although energy minister Darragh O’Brien has said it is a temporary measure and must be consistent with climate law, the government “has not come forward with any legally binding obligations to ensure these conditions are respected” and to ensure Ireland is not locked in to “even higher and long-term polluting gas use”.
Unsure of what exactly is happening with the earth’s climate? Check out our FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to finding good information online.
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