Ireland's renewable energy action plan submitted to the European Commission last summer does not foresee a contribution for geothermal in the heating and cooling sector. However, the country’s Energy Ministry subsequently declared that it wanted the technology to play a significant role in efforts to achieve Ireland's renewable target, and towards the end of the year, the Irish Government redacted a Geothermal Energy Development Bill which was published in September. Eamonn Ryan, Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources, has also established a Working Group to review the status of geothermal energy and consider options to advance the geothermal regulatory position in Ireland.
Geothermal energy is already being used in Europe to generate between 1,500 and 2,000 MW of electricity a year, suggesting that the resource could indeed generate substantial amounts of electricity in Ireland. Thus, SLR is being funded by SEAI under its Renewable Energy Research, Development & Demonstration Programme, the National Development Plan (of Ireland) and the European Union to carry out a Play Fairway Analysis which will assess the exploration risk by analysing the various attributes of the subsurface of Ireland to a depth of 5,000 metres.
"The results from SLR Consulting's Play Fairway Analysis will encourage more exploration companies to get involved, increasing investment in exploration and the likelihood of success in the development of geothermally generated electricity in Ireland," explains SEAI’s Head of Low Carbon Technologies, Katrina Polaski.
GT Energy, an Irish-owned company specialising in deep geothermal energy, is one such company looking to exploit the Emerald Isle’s geothermal resource. It secured a grant of €162,000 from SEAI in the summer to determine the viability of geothermal energy sources in locations in south County Dublin.
“Real potential”
‘‘We are the first company in Ireland and Britain to focus on the harnessing of deep geothermal energy and believe the technology has real potential in the Dublin area," said Padraig Hanly, managing director, GT Energy. ‘‘Through previous studies, we have estimated that geothermal energy could have the potential to provide up to 20 MW of electrical capacity and 100 MW of base load thermal energy, which would be equivalent of providing heat to 100,000 homes."
The shift in focus towards using geothermal energy in Ireland may have been prompted by comments by the Icelandic Foreign Minister, Össur Skarphéðinsson, in July last year. Iceland is world leader in geothermal power and Skarphéðinsson said the technology was not being given sufficient attention despite being the "cleanest, most stable, probably cheapest source of renewable energy in Europe". Speaking in Brussels, the minister suggested Iceland was ready to share its expertise on geothermal; just the sort of expertise the Irish will need moving forward.
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