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Brian Mullins, head of regulatory affairs at Gas Networks Ireland[/caption]
Wind energy delivered a record 53pc of Ireland’s electricity in February as three storms blew in.
It as a large increase on January’s wind generation and led to lower levels of gas-powered electricity, which fell to 28pc of total electricity, from 45pc in January, Gas Networks Ireland said today.
Wind energy generated a peak of 77pc of Ireland’s electricity and never dropped below 8pc, while gas powered up to 60pc at its peak and 10pc at its lowest level.
Despite an increase in gas demand in the construction, food and beverage, laundry, retail, hotels and manufacturing sectors, overall gas demand was down 22pc on January and 7pc on February 2021.
Coal powered 11pc of electricity in February, more than double what it provided a year earlier, with a high of 22pc and a low of 5pc.
“Being able to harness wind energy when it’s available and back it up with the flexibility and reliability of gas when it’s not, provides a secure and complete energy system for the people of Ireland,” said Gas Networks Ireland’s head of regulatory affairs, Brian Mullins.
“Gas is the ideal partner for intermittent renewables like wind energy and February’s three storms highlighted the strength and resilience of the ‘always on’ underground gas network.”
The Business Post reported this weekend that the Government is looking into building a state-owned non-commercial liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, the creation of significant gas storage capacity, and payments to the operators of the Corrib gas field to leave gas in the ground for any potential future emergencies.
Ireland has no LNG terminal, meaning it is unable to benefit from a recent EU deal to import more LNG from the US, Qatar and other suppliers.
Ireland gets the bulk of its gas supplies from the Corrib field and UK imports.
The news comes as European natural gas prices dropped to their lowest since March 1 on Monday amid steady shipments from Russia and forecasts for warmer weather.
Benchmark Dutch futures declined as much as 7.8pc as Russia’s Gazprom said that transit through pipelines crossing Ukraine remained stable.
Meanwhile, Gazprom cancelled two auctions on Monday for gas in April via two crossing points into Ukraine, according to Reuters. It gave no reason for the cancellations.
Two other auctions for capacity into connections on the Slovakia-Ukraine border and the Yamal pipeline to Poland and Germany, are due later on Monday.
Source Independent.ie
