The State needs to do more to exploit the potential of wind power, a conference was told. Lorna Sigginsreports

IRELAND AND Scotland share the great potential in Europe for wind energy development, but grid connections here must be “fast-tracked”, according to the European Wind Energy Association’s (EWEA) chief executive, Christian Kjaer.

Wind energy production for Ireland is equivalent to orange production in Spain, but the State has not made the most of this competitive advantage, Mr Kjaer told the Irish Wind Energy Association’s (IWEA) conference in Galway yesterday.

“You have to ask yourselves the question as a nation: do you want to continue sending an increasing share of your citizens’ wealth to a handful of fuel-exporting nations, or do you want to put the money to work here in Ireland and reap the economic benefits of manufacturing and energy exports?”Mr Kjaer said.

“The latter strategy would not alone reduce your energy costs and make a huge environmental contribution, but would create thousands of jobs in development, manufacturing, trading and maintenance,” he said.

Development of interconnectors, and fast-tracking grid connections, were “essential” to retain the competitive advantage and produce the cheapest electricity from wind “anywhere in Europe”, he said.

Mr Kjaer welcomed this week’s announcement by the European Investment Bank that it was investing €300 million in construction of the Ireland-Wales interconnector, as part of a €500 million investment package in the Irish electricity sector.

The EWEA estimated that every European man, woman and child has been spending €700 annually on importing energy to Europe, but this figure could be as high as €1,000 annually for every individual in Ireland.

At the same time, the rapid pace of development of wind energy meant that some 27.1 gigowatts was installed globally in one year, 2008, compared with the same figure over a decade for installing nuclear energy, Mr Kjaer said.

“Ireland is an island, vulnerable in the European energy chain but with great opportunity to harness wind,”Mr Kjaer said.

IWEA chief executive Michael Whelan said the association welcomed Eirgrid’s strategy in planning infrastructure to 2025, but “there needs to be much more urgency about implementation”.

Objections to transmission lines were still an obstacle to Ireland meeting its targets on renewable energy, and contributing to measures relating to climate change, Mr Whelan noted.

Eirgrid director of grid development Andrew Cooke said Eirgrid and the IWEA were “aligned” on the need for more rapid progress on this issue. “We have provided or are providing connections to some 2,500 megawatts of wind energy on the Irish system, but the grid issue is still challenging in Ireland and across Europe.”