Eamon Ryan’s natural gas storage plan not as daft as it looks

The expression “an Irish solution to an Irish problem” is well embedded in our political lexicon at this stage. One of the greatest proponents of this sort of approach to policymaking was former taoiseach Charles Haughey. He used the phrase when – as minister for health – he brought in the Health (Family Planning) Act in 1979. It did not legalise contraception but it did allow pharmacists to dispense contraceptives to people who had a prescription for “family planning” reasons. What this meant in practice was that contraception was available to anyone who could find a sympathetic doctor, and there were plenty of them.

It now appears that Eamon Ryan, the Green Party leader and Minister for Energy among other things, is about to join the roll call of Irish politicians who have resorted to this tactic.

The Green Party is trenchantly opposed to the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to produce electricity, primarily because much of it is produced by fracking. Last year one of the party’s TDs, Neasa Hourigan published a Bill that would prevent the construction of LNG infrastructure, with terminals to import LNG being the main target.

It was reported this week that Gas Networks Ireland – the State-owned gas infrastructure company – is to be asked to come up with some options for a State gas emergency reserve. One of the options it is looking at – and the most likely – is to moor a large LNG tanker ship at a deep water berth with a large jetty. This solution is to be in place by 2030.

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I know little about the intricacies of LNG infrastructure but it seems pretty obvious that a tanker full of LNG is quite useless as an emergency reserve without some method of getting the gas into the Irish gas network. It also does not require any great knowledge of the industry to conclude that you need a terminal located at your deep water berth with a large jetty to accomplish that.

So we have somehow arrived at the situation where a Government that in theory is against using LNG as an energy source is going to build a terminal to import it – but only for emergencies. To add insult to injury – as it were – there are only a handful of sites that are suitable for a terminal, as you need access to the gas network. One of the better possible sites is on the Shannon Estuary. We know this because a private company, Shannon LPG, has been trying to build one for years, alongside a power station and battery storage facility.

Its planning application was turned down by An Bord Pleanála in September on the basis that it was not supported by the Government’s review of energy security which was under way. The review did not support the development of a “commercial” LNG terminal, according to the board. This is the same review that underpinned this week’s announcement that the Government was going to build a large jetty at a deep water port to moor an LNG tanker. The reference to commercial is key, but the lawyers will have a field day.

[ Ireland’s dangerous reliance on gas risks future price spikes for households ]

Like all Irish solutions to Irish problems, this half-baked plan is born of competing imperatives. On the one hand is the need for some sort of LNG storage facility given the dependence of our power generating network on gas. The current spike in gas prices arising out of the conflict in Ukraine has made a potential risk – running out of gas – a very real one. On the other is the need to reduce our use of fossils fuels given their undeniable contribution to global warming.

And like other Irish solutions to Irish problems, this one will work for a while. Assuming it gets off the ground and is Government-built and Government-controlled, there is no reason to believe that use of the terminal will not be restricted to the storage of a national reserve. Ryan obviously believes that he can sell the idea to his party on this basis. But the Green Party knows better than most that governments change and so does the national mood.

Haughey’s compromise on contraception lasted six years. When Fine Gael came to power in 1985 under Garret FitzGerald they started to chip away at the restrictions. And that process continued – carried on a tide of public opinion – until we arrived at the current situation of widely available contraception.

That said, it is unlikely that people will take to the streets demanding that the Government use its “deepwater port and large jetty” to import fracked natural gas from the United States. Energy prices would have to rise quite a lot higher. But it’s not inconceivable.

It’s more likely that the direction of travel of public opinion will be the opposite direction. Concern about the impact of global warming will only increase and moves to use the terminal for anything other than its stated purpose are much more likely to draw protests. Ryan’s Irish solution is not as daft as it seems.