Sir, – While about a quarter of our electricity is now wind-generated, Ireland is next to bottom of the EU table when it comes to lowering our carbon emissions.
Our present onshore, renewable approach comes nowhere near producing enough energy to satisfy our daily power demand from the national grid.
At long last there is momentum in the direction of offshore wind, with four developers securing State-backed contracts for Ireland’s first offshore wind turbines; however, these are anxious times for the offshore wind industry around the world, with rising steel prices hitting would-be developers.
However, even with a worthwhile offshore contribution to our renewable energy, it looks increasingly obvious that we should also be considering a small portion of nuclear to support this widening, but unreliable, wind and solar base.
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Nuclear power is already part of our current and planned electricity mix, through interconnection with Britain, and from the planned undersea electricity connection to France by 2027. – Yours, etc,
ANNE BAILY,
Carrick-on-Suir,
Co Tipperary.
